A Cat's Repayment
by Elz Durden
Summary: It began with a cursed candy. Don't the best stories?
1. Homework

A/N – I recently watched A Cat Returns for the first time and it captured my imagination the way few things do. I, of course, had to write a short story for it. Had to. I amazed myself when I wrote the entire thing in a single setting. I tried to keep it as much in the same light-hearted feeling as the original movie – many of the fanfics for A Cat Returns are extremely dark and angst filled and I wanted to go another way.

This does have a cross over with another Studio Ghibli film – but knowledge of it isn't needed, it will only enhance the story I'm writing.

Thanks, as always for reading. I hope you enjoy. PS - the first chapter is very short. The entire story will probably be three chapters total and this is just a happy tease.

~.~

A Cat's Repayment

Sunlight shone through the kitchen window, warming the backside of a certain girl as she thoughtfully bent forward in her chair. Even after her best effort, the paper before her was only half finished and looked doomed to remain that way.

With a sigh, Haru sat back in her chair and stretched. Homework wasn't all that bad but trying to sit indoors on what was probably the loveliest day of the year – that was just unfair.

"Bored." She whimpered, pushing the paper around with the tip of her pencil. "Bored, bored, bored! Agh! I can't take it anymore."

Stopping only long enough to tug on her shoes and yell "Mom, I'm heading out for a bit!" (Which came the muffled replay from upstairs of, "Don't you have homework?") Haru rushed out the door and in to the fresh, early morning air.

It was amazing how utterly full of promise a day could be, if one was trying their best not to do homework. Now that she thought about it, there were at least forty things Haru absolutely had to do that very moment. And in no way she should feel even the slightest bit guilty about not doing her homework right away.

"After all," she reassured herself, "It's not like I can't do it tonight."

Which of course would turn out to be an utter lie because a single left turn from then, Haru's life would get complicated.


	2. Bad Candy

A/N – New chapter! The first chapter was so short, I felt I would drop this one today as well so you'd have more to enjoy. See if you can guess what other Studio Ghibli movie I'm tying to this one. Again, you don't need to have seen it to get this, I just think other fans will probably enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it. Thanks always for reviews

~.~

A left turn later found Haru at the park, contently lying in the grass with her eyes closed. The sunlight bathed her in warmth under the cloudless blue sky as song birds called to one another in nearby trees. In the distance, Haru could hear the rush of weekend traffic.

"Perfect," She smiled, "This is just what I needed."

A short time later, Haru sat up, turning her head from side to side, searching. "That's strange, I thought I heard carnival music just now." Brushing the hem of her skirt, she wandered towards the tree line of the nearby forest.

Absently, she noted that the birds had stopped singing and in their silence, there was indeed spirited carnival music, getting louder with each step Haru took towards the forest.

Parting away the branches, the young girl abruptly found herself in a wide clearing, which, considering the grove of trees she had walked in to was a small one - this was a very surprising find. All around her were empty stalls, lined up to create a walkway that stretched out to her left and right as far as she could see. Each one was brightly painted with signs and colorful banners tied from their roofs. Smells of spiced fruit, sweet candy and roasting meat was so thick on the air she could almost taste it.

Haru tucked her arms behind her back and strolled to the nearest stall. This one was lined with plates of cooling brown pies. On the upper shelf was a colorful array of tins of sweets, each with a playful animal picture on the front. She leaned over and picked out the one that had a smiling cat, naturally.

The adventurer turned the tin over in her hands. It was fairly heavy and as she looked for a brand name or even a list of ingredients, the candies rolled around inside, sounding a little like a coin jar rattling.

"Huh. How strange, no name, nothing at all." She peered closer at the cat on the front. "And I could have sworn you just winked at me!"

"You!" Came a frantic high-pitched yell.

Startled, Haru looked down the line of stalls to see a panicked frog running towards her at great speed, half hopping on it's back legs. When the frog came closer, it was clear it was dressed in a black formal ceremony robe, complete with a tiny hat and shoes. The clothes-wearing amphibian came to a stop before her, the top of his head reaching her hips. Before she could get a word out, tiny, webbed hands reached up and started pushing her back towards the trees.

"Oh goodness, oh no no! You, leave, now!" He dug his feet in to the hard ground, trying to force her larger frame back as if by sheer will.

"Excuse me!" Haru said indigently while trying to keep her footing as the frog relentlessly pushed.

"No! Absolutely not! No humans anywhere near the bathhouse! Not again!"

"Excuse me!" She said again, louder as she dug her feet in. "What bathhouse? That in the world are you talking about?"

The frog jumped back and eyed her with open distrust. "Oh no you don't! You aren't getting any answers out of me! I swear, every human that has had so much as a brush with the spirit world comes wandering on in here, rude as they please! Do you have any idea how hard my job has been?" He accused, pointing. "Constantly shoving you lot back out before nightfall? Ugh, it was so much easier in the old days."

Haru blinked a few times, trying to collect her thoughts. The part about being out before nightfall triggered the connection between this place and her own recent trip to the Cat Kingdom. "I am very sorry, I didn't mean to wander in here. Is this the Frog Kingdom, then?"

The frog blinked his wide eyes at her before bursting out in laughter. "Hardly. As if. The Frog Kingdom is an amazing place, far superior to this one! Why, you should only be so honored!"

Haru felt it best not to mention that if he had said yes, she would have run screaming back through the trees. The threat of being a cat forever hadn't been that terrible – being a frog would be unthinkable.

"And now!" The frog declared. "You must leave!" The little hands resumed their pushing.

"Hey now! No need to be rude! Can I at least purchase these?" She asked, lifting the candy tin.

Without looking up, the frog said, "Sure, fine, whatever. Take anything you'd like, just don't ever come back!"

"Ok, ok! I'm going, geeze!" She said, moving back towards the tree suddenly, which caused the frog to nearly slip forward and fall on his startled face.

"And don't come back!" He yelled again at her retreating figure. Sighing, the he unfolded a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped at his brow.

Once she crossed back in to her world, a ripple ran through the trees, like a tiny stone being dropped on to the surface of a still lake, as the doorway closed behind her. Only then, having caught his breath, did the frog think about her parting words.

"Wait…purchase what?"


	3. Frogs

A/N - thank you for the kind reviews and alerts. I am going to post one chapter a day or! If I get a lot of interest, I'll sneak a bonus chapter in here. I was wrong about the length, this story has expanded! Thank you for reading, this chapter was fun to write :)

~.~

Haru stared at the trees from which she had just exited. It wasn't so much of a forest as it was a clump of close together trees. Hard to believe it could hide an entire other world. She supposed maybe there were entrances to other realms everywhere. The way the frog made it sound, it was entirely possible anyone that had a brush with a magical anything could end up slipping through the cracks and what was a grove of trees could be an entrance to somewhere else all together. If Haru was indeed one of those types of people she might have to start being more careful about where she wandered. "Poor little frog, I hope I didn't upset him."

The tin candy hold in her hands looked markedly different than it had before. The color seemed to be fading away, no longer bright and brand new, it looked years old and worn. The holder itself seemed smaller, the metal lackluster and looking at it, it was hard to imagine it had ever caught her eye to begin with. With the tips of her fingers, she managed to pry off the lid, which gave up with a dull 'pop'.

Inside the dark can, a single candy wrapped in yellow rice paper hid as if forgotten in the bottom. Only able to fit two fingers in the now quite small opening, she carefully fished out the last remaining candy.

After a careful inspection, Haru declared. "Looks like regular candy to me." Shrugging, she pocketed the treat and started heading back down to the road. Before she got too far from the trees, a harsh wind kicked up suddenly, snatching the now empty tin from her hands and blowing it end over end back in to the forest.

Watching it vanish in to the trees, the young girl resolved not to return to that particular park again. "And I should probably toss this candy as quickly as possible." She added to herself. It seemed like a very foolish idea indeed to eat anything from that spooky carnival.

~.~

It was dusk by the time Haru returned home. With a hello to her mother and a quick sandwich for dinner, she raced up to her bedroom – the homework completely forgotten on the kitchen counter.

Her pajamas were warm and comfortable and sitting on her bed, she could hardly believe the events of today had taken place. She reached in to her pocket and took out the candy and the only evidence that, yes, there was at least a few other worlds out there like the Cat Kingdom.

"I bet you're catnip flavored." She accused, twirling the candy around in her hand, she continued on, "I'm not stupid, you know. You are a mysterious candy from a magic land. I read about this kind of stuff all the time in manga. I bet if eat you, I, you know, turn in to a cat. Or, get haunted by a cat ghost that only I can see, or maybe just get a cat tail or smell like tuna forever. Something bad would end up happening either way. So you see, you tricky candy, thanks, but no thanks."

The only slightly tempting thought was _maybe _being a turned in to cat. It had been a few months since her trip to the Cat Kingdom and sometimes she couldn't help but imagine what her life would have been like if she would have stayed. Would she be with the Baron, right now? The few times Haru had wandered by the Cat Bureau, a polite 'Closed' sign had always been hanging on the door handle. She believed that if she ever really had a need for him, that door would be wide open - but not just for the sake of her idle curiosity.

"So sorry candy," Haru said, "I can wait. If I'm meant to see him again, I will. No magic candy needed." She glanced over at the wastebasket by her bed. That seemed like a truly terrible way of disposing of a magical candy. Come to think of it, she had no idea how to get rid of it at all.

~.~

The next day, a very hectic Haru rushed to the Crossroads, candy gripped in her hand. It had, in fact, turned out to be impossible to get rid of. Tossing it back in to the trees at the park resulted in it's sudden reappearance in her pocket. The same result when she tossed it in to a lake. And in to a passing garbage truck. And, in an inspired moment, freezing it in an ice cube and hiding it in the back of the fridge only resulted in a very wet, cold pocket and a very dry annoying candy.

With determined steps, the teen headed straight for the fat, white cat napping on top of a café table.

"Muta!" Haru whispered harshly to the cat, trying not to drawn the attention of other passersby. "Muta, you have to help me!"

Stretching awake from his nap, Muta looked up at Haru.

And promptly rolled back over to sleep.

"Muta!" She demanded, shaking the cat awake. "I'm being haunted by a candy!"

Sighing, the cat rolled over just enough to meet her eyes. Taking that as her queue to plead her case, Haru launched in to her story, occasionally waving the horrid candy towards him for emphasis.

When she had finish, she had to take several breaths and recollect herself.

Another minute passed and with a very deep, very annoyed sigh, the cat got up and started strolling down a familiar path. Haru followed behind with subdued steps, her head hanging. She really didn't mean for this kind of stuff to happen to her, she really didn't.

After they crossed under the arch of the small, doll sized village where the Cat Bureau made its headquarters, Muta turned towards her, paw outstretched.

"Oh!" Haru said and placed the candy on the offered paw.

Muta mused it over, looking at it from every angle, carefully weighting in thoughtfully. Several times, he nodded wisely to himself and finally, after a great length of looking quite serious, he handed it back to Haru.

"And?" She prompted.

"Looks like candy to me." He shrugged and started wandering back out towards the Crossroads.

"What!" Cried Haru, grabbing the overweight tabby by the scruff of his neck. "Weren't you listening to me?"

"Hey, hey!" Muta protested, "What'd ya want from me? I'm just a cat! I don't know anything about magic candy! And why are you taking things from mysterious carnivals anyway, you stupid or something?"

With a sigh of frustration, she let Muta go and sat down by the fountain that Toto's statue called home. "What am I going to do Muta? I just want it gone."

"So eat it."

"You have got to be kidding! Have you even read any fairy tales? That's the very last thing I should do! Why don't you eat it, you're already a cat!"

Muta backed away quickly from the offered sweet. "No way, no way! What, you think just cause I'm a little heavy I'll eat haunted candy?"

"You told me to!"

"Yeah cause it's _your_ haunted candy!"

Feeling frustrated, Haru flicked the candy off her palm and on to the ground. It wasn't a hard flick, more like a push, really. However, the second the candy touched the ground it started to eagerly bounce away, rushing towards the Cat Bureau with tiny, quick hops.

Muta and Haru blinked in surprise, watching it in disbelief.

"Oh that can't be good." Muta finally said.

With a high pitched 'epp!" Haru scrambled to her feet. "Quick, we have to stop it!"

The candy increased the speed of its hops, managing to spring away each time Haru made a grab for it.

Muta, on the other hand, just shook his head and watched. There was no way he was going anywhere near that thing.

In a last desperate bid to stop it, Haru lunged at the candy – and missed. Landing hard on the ground, she watched in shock as the candy bounced at the window. It rippled through as if it had been water instead of solid glass. With a bright satisfied 'pop!' the candy exploded in a cloud of white sugar dust and sparkling light that rained down on to a familiar cat statuette.


	4. Baths

A/n – Hello again! Thank you for reading. As always, thank you for reviews – I love feed back. Enjoy!

~.~

"Baron?" Haru questioned with dismay. How was that possible? She knew for a fact that cat figurine hadn't been standing in the window a second ago. Of course he would show up in time to get dusted in magic candy sugar, because that was Haru's luck.

Behind her, the big white cat came ambling over, sitting his large self to her side. "Wow his timing sure is poor." Muta muttered eyes fixed on the statue.

The girl turned on the cat, indignantly crying, "That's all you can say! After not even _trying_ to help?"

"Easy now!" Meowed the cat back at her. "He's fine, ain't he? No reason for me to get involved."

"You think he's ok?" She asked, uncertain but hopeful. Still seated, she edged closer to the window. Baron's still form looked untouched without a trace of the candy to be seen. Another few minutes passed in silence and slowly the tension in Haru's chest relaxed, her shoulders sagging in relief.

"Maybe it was a dud. " The girl said, tapping a finger on the glass. Nothing in the Bureau moved. No ghosts came screaming out, the air didn't smell like tuna and the Baron didn't seem to be growing any extra tails. "That was pretty lucky, I guess, huh Muta?"

The late afternoon sun started to set; shining its bright orange rays between the surrounding buildings and reflecting off the cats figure's eyes. They seemed to sparkle in amusement.

"See! No harm." The white cat said indigently as he crossed his arms over his wide chest. "You can ask him yourself if you don't believe me. Getting all worked up over a silly candy, bah."

As the sun slipped behind the building, the door to the Bureau opened, the inside lights warm and welcoming. Out stepped a cat, dressed to the highest standards of fashion – a white tux, complete with tails and a matching hat and cane.

"Haru! Muta!" He greeted each with a nod of his head and a smile, his accent crisp and cheery. "To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?"

The cat's smile was infectious and soon Haru was beaming from ear to ear from equal parts relief and joy at seeing her friend again. She stood up and bowed, "I'm glad you're alright!"

Rising her eyes to meet his, she searched his face. "You are alright, aren't you?"

A puzzled look crossed the gentlecat's face. "Well, yes. Why wouldn't I be?"

As the tale of the mysterious candy was told, the sun sank ever lower. All the while, Baron listened intently, keeping silent. At the very end, he crossed his arms in thought.

"My, what a story. I…" He started. As he spoke, the sunset faded away in to true night, stealing the last of the sunlight as the streetlamps around them clicked on. Baron suddenly looked concerned, "I…" he tried again, "I feel rather…"

The figurine fell forward, slowly, for as he fell, he grew. By the time his knees touched the ground, he was easily Haru's size. The white suit was growing with him, complete with hat and cane.

The girl watched, stunned and completely caught off guard. The urge to run around panicking was building with each second and she was sure that her heart was going to jump out of her gaping mouth.

When the cat looked up again at her, he didn't look like the Baron anymore. The ginger fur was smoothing away, giving way to pale skin. The cat ears rippled and pulled down, growing smaller as they rapidly hid away under thick, unruly orange hair.

It all happened so quickly that by the time Haru decided that it was indeed completely appropriate to run around screaming in full panic mode, the damage had already been done.

The Baron was no longer a cat at all.

In his place was a young man, with amazingly orange hair, startling green eyes and a very bewildered look on his face.

"Oh my gosh." Haru gasped, covering her mouth. "I am so sorry!"

"That's it, I'm outta here!" Muta declared loudly, waving his paws at the pair as he backed towards the archway. "No way I'm turnin' in to an ugly human, no way!" And with that, the fat white form fled.

"You big cow-ard!" She yelled after the retreating figure, stopping her foot in anger. "Geez, can you believe that guy."

"I.." The man said, his voice louder and deeper it had been, before he could finish his sentence, he jerked to his feet like a toy soldier coming to attention, a good foot taller than Haru. With awkward, forced steps, he started through the archway and towards the street. Slowly at first, he quickly began picking up speed.

"Wait! Where are you going?" Haru asked, rushing to keep pace with her newly human friend.

"I am afraid I do not know and I am quiet unable to stop myself." He called back to her as he ran. "Quickly, tell me again everything the frog said, leave out not the smallest detail."

She replayed the events for him, running faster and faster to keep pace and doing her best to not pass out as she gasped for breath. When she had finished, the man reached in to his coat pocket, drawing out a golden pocket watch. "Here, take this." He said as he tossed it in her direction, unable to turn his head to see if she caught it.

"Haru," He continued as he gracefully dodged down alleyways and between trashcans. "It sounds very much like you've run a fowl to spirit magic. Creations such as myself are very desirable servants - we have a great deal of natural magic and few means to free ourselves from servitude."

Torn between listening and trying not to face plant in to the side of a building, Haru gripped the white arm of his suit, holding on for dear life and running for all she was worth. "I'm sorry!" She yelled over a blaring horn as the pair leapt carelessly through the night traffic.

Up ahead, the city gave way to an old, overgrown park, lined on one side with a twist of trees. Distantly, there was the sound of cheery music playing.

"Don't blame yourself! I hardly believe this to be your fault. Had you eaten the candy, you likely would have turned in to a cat-."

"Ha!" The girl cried, "I knew it!"

With a light laugh, the man continued, his feet rushing over the open expanse of grass. "The candy only reacted to an opportunity, unforeseeable on your behalf. You mustn't blame yourself."

Haru didn't respond, all of her focus was aimed at holding on to the arm of her companion for dear life as the ground literally started to vanish beneath them.

"You have to let go, Haru!" Came a commanding voice over the whistling of the wind. "I'm not sure what will happen when we cross in to the spirit realm!"

"Not happening!" She yelled back.

Before the argument could continue, Haru felt a great pressure build around her, building and building until the pair burst though the tree line and out in to the row of carnival stalls, startling a pair of shadow's that seemed to be bartering for shoes.

At night, the place was lit up like a birthday cake, hundreds of colored lights dangling off streamers. The music was loud, otherworldly. Haru couldn't name a single instrument that could make music like that.

Beside her, the man ran on - his pace never slowed, on and on he rushed through the crowded festival. They raced past blurs of creatures and shadow beings that Haru didn't have names for. She sorely hoped they didn't trample anyone. It seemed impossible that they could move that fast and not pile drive in to at least thirty of the partygoers.

She couldn't slow down, she was being carried forward by the man next to her and she sure the heck wasn't letting go. At this speed, it was more likely she'd go flying in to a building or crash in to a pole. Left with little other choice, she closed her eyes and hoped for the best.

~.~


	5. Bus Stops

A/N – One of my favorite things about Studio Ghibli films is that sometimes, I can almost guess how the movie is going to end – but I can never ever guess how it's going to get there.

Thank you for all the kind reviews – I hope this story keeps you guessing and smiling.

~.~

The sudden stop was jarring.

One second she felt like she was flying, the next her feet were on solid ground. Ears ringing in the silence, her heart pounding having run so fast for so long and it took Haru a few shaky breaths before she could force her stiff fingers to let go of the arm she had been holding.

As she opened her eyes, she found that they were no longer at the festival. Their breakneck pace must have taken them inside at some point because they were now standing in the center of a vast room.

It was beautifully decorated and stately and confusingly chaotic. To her right and left and in front of her massive piles of oddities towered to the ceiling. A few were stacked in such a way that the smallest object was on bottom with uncomfortably vehicle-size knickknacks on top.

Every inch in the room was filled with shiny items, exotic paintings and more than a few things Haru was sure had to be magic – because there was no such thing as a lava lamp that had fish swimming in very real looking lava.

However, all the strangeness was pushed aside when she noticed with joy:

"I'm alive! I think!" Haru squealed in delight, followed quickly by a not so happy and rather confused – "Where are we?"

Her companion stayed quiet, his eyes fixed straight ahead. Only the steady rise and fall of his chest hinted at the life beating within.

"Mom is going to be very angry." Said a weary voice from the back of the room, far away from the massive doors. A heavyset teenager sat behind a gigantic work desk, littered with stacks and stacks of paper. "Two humans?" The youth continued, tapping the top of the piles with his fingers. "Oh yeah, she is going to flip," He sighed. "As if I didn't have enough to do right now."

Haru took a second to tie back her windblown hair with a hair tie off her wrist. She used those few seconds to try and muster up her nerve to answer the intimidating figure before them. And secretly, deep down, she was hoping the man next to her would speak up in the silence when she didn't.

"Excuse me!" She finally called to the end of the room, once her hair was in a bouncy, short ponytail. "I think there's been a mistake!"

"Yeah, you think?" He answered, dryly. "What are two humans doing at my bathhouse?"

For what seemed like the hundredth time that day, Haru told a very short version of the events leading to them ending up there. Throughout, the man standing beside her stayed silent, staring straight forward. "And," she finished with a rushed breath, "He's a cat, not a human so if you could change him back, we'd love to be on our way."

The youth considered her for a moment before rolling his eyes. "You're a bit confused. Let me clear a few things up. Firstly, your friend there, he was a creation right? A _human_ creation?" He asked, placing a great deal of emphasis on the word 'human'. "His human creator poured his heart and _human_soul in to making him. Therefore, he -" the teen pointed at her friend, "Is very much human. It doesn't matter that the soul was sealed in to a cat statue. If I turned you in to a pig, you'd still have a human soul."

"A pig?" Haru asked eyes wide.

The youth waved away her concern. "Just an example, or if I turned you in to an old hag-"

"Old hag?"

"- The real you would still be there and all it would take is someone to see the real you and totally ruin the magic because magic can always change the outside but never what's inside. My mom used to entrap humans all the time using the same kind of spells. You lot are ridiculously susceptible to magic and you're pretty ignorant about the spirit world so it's rather easy to trick you."

"She _used_ to trap humans here?" Haru asked.

"Yeah, _used_ to. Not anymore. Awhile back my mom was beaten at her own game by a human girl. She decided after that she didn't like it when humans fought back. Nearly had a nervous breakdown and had to go to spirit counseling, it was a mess." The teen paused to examine a paper off the top of one of the piles before continuing -

"You must have found one of her old spells or one of them found you. They're kind of tricky when they want to be." With another sigh, he pulled himself up from his desk and moved to stand in front of the pair. He was easily three feet taller than the man in the white suit and nearly twice as wide.

The teen looked over the former cat, occasionally glancing at Haru. "Yeah, no doubt about it," He confirmed, "He's as human as you are. So even with his magic, I don't want him as a servant. That means both of you need to leave right now. I don't want my mom seeing you and getting upset all over again. Here, hang on." Hands as large as Haru's head reached over and grabbed a tiny piece of paper off the desk. "Go to this address. My auntie is a sweetheart with a soft spot for your kind. She'll help you get home."

"Wait, what about him? What's wrong with him? He hasn't said a work or moved since we got here! You can't just leave him like that! You need to put him back like he was!" Her words kind of ran together in a hurried rush but Haru was fairly certain the young man was this close to pushing them out the door and she desperately needed answers first.

Sitting himself back behind his desk the youth smiled, not unkindly. "Man, you humans really are ignorant. I don't know how else to explain this. Your friend has always had a human soul. What he is now is what he's always really been. He's magical – probably be considered a wizard but still very human. I can't turn him back to the way he was. Magic can hide the truth, not rewrite it.

As for how he's acting, he's been cursed. My mom could break it but I'm not going to ask her. It would upset her greatly, you see. You'll just have to figure it out on your own."

Haru's jaw dropped, "I am absolutely the worst person for this! I know nothing about magic!"

"Yeah, that was pretty clear from the moment you got here." Rubbing his temples, the young man pulled a cord hanging by his desk. A bell rang in the distance. "One of bathhouse servants will take you to the train station. Talk to my aunt. She can get you home but it's no use asking her about the curse either."

The door open and a familiar frog came hoping in. The amphibian glanced over to his master's guests and almost had a heart attack.

"You!" He crocked, pointing at the girl but quickly catching himself and swinging the hand down for a bow. The last thing he wanted was to be blamed for this. "I mean, YOU - You rang Master Boh?"

"Yes, please make sure they get to the train station, safely." He answered, either choosing to ignore or not catching the frog's blatant guilt.

"Wait, wait!" Haru cried, "What is the curse? Can you at least tell me that! I mean if being turned in to a human wasn't it, what is?"

"I'll answer your question with a question," The teenager named Boh answered. "What is your friend's name?"

That was such a silly, obvious question; Haru couldn't believe it had anything to do with the curse. "His name is – It's… I mean, I've said it a hundred times! It's…" She gasped, hand covering her mouth in shock. "Oh my goodness! I can't remember!"

"Ah! There you go, now you got it. Neither can he. A name is a very powerful thing. It's more than a label in this world - it's how souls know who they are. It's their freedom. His has been sealed away." Boh drew out a thin feather from the drawer, dipping the white tip in a black jar. With two quick, precise motions he wrote a symbol on a scrap piece of paper.

"Call him this." Like an obedient pet, the paper leapt from the desk and earnestly floated in to Haru's hand. "It's not his true name so it won't give him back his memories but it should serve for now."

"But!" Before she could protest further, the pair was led out through the massive doors and quickly ushered through the bathhouse. The sights inside the building turned out to be more captivating than anything Haru had seen so far on her misadventure.

As the group rounded the corner that led from the private office in the back to the front of the house, it took her eyes a second to process what they were seeing.

"Oh wow! Look!" At that moment it didn't matter so much that her companion probably wasn't aware of their surroundings. What mattered was that three shadow creatures, wearing hats and white masks had just politely bowed to her as they passed her in the lobby. And that a massive turnip monster nearly stepped on her as she stopped to gawk at the multi-eyed woman handing out hot towels.

The thick humidity from all the baths carried a very earthy and almost unpleasant smell, like fireworks and grass clippings. There were hints of spice and a taste that made her cavities tingle like she had bit in to tin.

"Can you believe this?" She yelled over cascade of water being poured in to a tub larger than her home. "This is incredible!" But the man beside her said nothing and Haru could tell the frog very much wanted to start pushing her again to hurry her along.

The night air was warm, just this side of being too hot for the long sleeves she was wearing. She wondered how far away from home she really was, having had dressed for a fall day she now found herself in a summer night. Across a wide bridge, the festival was still in full swing. Music and lights drifted over the water that separated the bathhouse from the mainland.

"Would you please quit with the stopping and staring! Some of us have better things to do with our time!" The frog demanded.

"You!" Haru suddenly remembered that the object of all her current problems was within venting distance. "This is all your fault!"

The frog made a 'hmph' sound and turned his nose up with contempt, "I assure you I have no idea what you're talking about. I've never seen you before in my life."

"Is that a fact?" Haru said, peering at the frog. A fine sheen of sweat had started to bead along his forehead. "You're just worried you're going to get in to trouble because you messed up! Does your boss know you let people take tins of cursed candy!"

"I did not!" Stammered the frog, "Anyone with half a brain would know better than to take things from another world without knowing exactly what it is!"

"So it was you! You should have the decency to at least look ashamed. You're lucky my friend isn't himself right now." Haru pointed to the cane the gentleman was carrying loosely at his side. "He'd clock you a good one for what you just said."

The frog gulped loudly and started to hop faster. "Come on, let's hurry, the train station is just up ahead."

~.~


	6. Best

The train 'station' turned out to be more of a train stop in the middle of nowhere. It had been tucked away at the end of a sad, overgrown dirt path. The trees seemed to be deciding if they should bother swallowing the entire clearing and it was in such a neglected state that would have probably been a mercy.

Even at a distance, Haru could see the small wooden platform had wood rot in every single one of its weather-warped boards. It boasted only a single covered bench to offer protection from the elements and as if an after thought, two sad little red lanterns had been hung on the posts facing the tracks. They offered little in the manner of light – what they did spit forth only served to make the darkness forbidding.

Out by the tracks, under the weak light of a waning moon, things rustled and huffed, shifting and darting in the shadows of which there was no shortage. From the corner of her eye, Haru swore she kept catching movement but no matter how quickly she turned her head, there was nothing to be seen.

In short, the place was all that was creepy.

"Good luck!" Called the frog as he disappeared back down the path. "Don't take this the wrong way but I hope I don't see you again!"

"The feeling is mutual!" She called back, softly. "Those candies should have warning labels." She finished lamely to herself. The frog was already long gone.

In the silence that followed, Haru glanced over at the man in the white suit to make sure he was still there. He had never moved except to follow after her, never uttered a single sound. It had all happened so fast and now Haru was stranded in a strange land with a cursed man.

A loud 'crack' sounded off in the woods and without hesitating, she grabbed hold of a gloved hand and rushed him to the top of the platform. Only after her the adrenaline high peeked did Haru realize she had put herself between him and the handful of stairs that lead back down to the spooky forest.

_Because, __sadly, __in __his __current __state __she __was __the __better __bet __against __a __threat._

"Ok, this is not how I imagined today would go." She tried not to think about how tired she was, all the while trying to ignore how massive and threatening the surrounding woods were. "I thought, at worse, I'd be turned in to a cat… kind of puts things in perspective when the thought of being turned in to a _feline_is the happy one."

Beside her, on the upper corner of the bench, was a sign. It was visible only to passengers once they had moved in to the enclosed area of the stop. Right now the sign read, in chipped red paint, 'On Time.' She could only hope it was referring to the train.

"I guess I better try the name out that teen at the bathhouse gave you." Haru carefully unfolded the paper in her hands, the weak light from the lanterns revealing a short name written within.

She winced when she read it over. "Wow, that guy must not have liked you much. Maybe it's a spirit thing. 'Boh' isn't much of a name either."

"Gikk." She almost managed to say it to the man without shuddering.

Almost.

The man seated next to her on the bench stirred awake, the distant look in his eyes melting away as he glanced around with confusion until his eyes rested on Haru.

"What a horrid name," He answered with a wary smile, "I do so hope it isn't mine."

~.~

By the time the train puffed up, rolling out of the fog, the moon was low in the sky and about ready to give in to the dawn.

With a graceful bow, the gentleman offered his arm and led his companion up in to the passenger cart.

In a truly strange turn of events, the '_click__'_ of the train door closing happened to wake the spider spirit that had been sleeping in the rafters of the stop covering. The double headed spider with three glowing red eyes gave a startled _chirp_ when it noticed how late the hour was. Without wasting another second, it raced down the post, hooking a few of its legs around the side of the 'On Time' sign as it quickly pulled out a miniature paint set and went to work.

The 'On Time' was erased and painted over in a matter of seconds. Sighing with relief, the little guy tucked away the paints and retreated back up to his nest with a yawn. Truth be told, he should have changed the sign days ago. It was a lucky thing no one ever came to this stop.

He fell back to a deep sleep having done his job. The sign now read 'Out of Service'.

~.~

The train was empty but well lit and inviting. It could have held a hundred passengers in comfort and it seemed a little eerie that it should only be the two of them riding in all that empty space.

"What an amazing story I find myself in." The man who was formally a cat, who was now being called 'Gikk' said. "Not even a dream could harbor such flights of fancy, to think that I was a cat statue with a human soul. What fun that must have been."

The two sat across the aisle from one another. The booths that ran down each side of the train faced out, so that two people, if they were in such a mood, could face one another in a polite conversation.

Gikk was sitting like a proper gentleman, cane and hat tucked to the side with an ankle lain casually across his knee. Haru, in contrast, had her head propped up with her hands. Inside, her desire to sleep was raging with her desire not to fall asleep on what was most assuredly, a haunted train.

"You did seem to be enjoying yourself." Haru agreed. So far, she had been very careful not to use his new name more than she had to. The name 'Gikk', besides sounding terrible, felt terrible to say. It didn't fit right with the man sitting across from her and every time she said it, her mind screamed 'Wrong!' but for the life of her she couldn't find the one that rang 'Right!'

"You seem to be taking this all pretty well, considering." She commented. "I freaked out when I thought I was going to turn in to a cat forever."

"I don't see what choice I have, really." Gikk said. He lifted a hand up, flexing each of his fingers one at a time, inspecting them. "I don't feel like I've changed in to something not…myself." He dropped his hand back to his lap and smiled at her. "Not having my name is very troublesome; even so, I can't seem to overly fret about with such a fine companion at my side. I know we shall set it right, one way or another."

"If you don't have any memories, how can you know that? I might be a witch in disguise." She joked, halfheartedly. It sounded forced.

"You could be but I don't believe it. It is the oddest thing, the oddest feeling. I know you without remembering you. All the emotions are still here, inside. I look at you and I recognize you, I even knew your name but the memories that would be connected with that recollection are locked far away." His tone grew distant. "I trust you."

"Well, if you want to be fair," Haru said with a touch of guilt. "I was the one that sort of got us in to this mess." Outside the window, the landscape raced by. The trees that had seemed so menacing were quickly be replaced by low lying plains, looking grey and flat in the poor light right before the sun rose.

"Do you think you'll be mad?" She asked in to the silence before she could help herself. "When you remember being a cat and your old life?"

Gikk seemed to consider the question. "Highly doubtful," He answered finally. "I am still me, even without my memories. Unless the person I am now seems to you as strikingly different from the person you know?"

She shook her head. "No, you've been acting very much like you."

"Then no." He answered, very sure. "I shan't be upset. This is a most wonderful adventure."

"Be yourself." Haru repeated the phrase from memory. "You told me that when I was in danger of being lost. I guess you were speaking from experience. Even as a cat statue, you always seem so much more."

"Did we spend much time together before this?" The man asked with a curious tone, as if something had just occurred to him.

"Mmm, no." Haru said, not picking up on the subtle change in the conversation.

She turned so that she was facing the view on the horizon beside her, resting her head against the plush back of the seat. She reached up a finger and started to trace it against the glass, still chilled from the night.

"We only had a day together, really. You're a stranger to me, if you want to know the truth. You hardly know me and I hardly know you. It's very," Her voice dropped lower, unfocused. The more she tried to stay awake, of course the harder it became to keep her eyes open. "It's very silly, if you stop and think about it. A single day, a handful of hours, it's nothing, really."

Her voice had dropped to a thoughtful whisper, "But when we danced together, just for a second, everything else seemed so… so very, small, so very _trivial_." Her half opened eyes watched the approaching ocean but her mind was a million miles away, slipping away in to the fragile place between dreams and the waking world.

For a dreamy second, she felt lost the memory of dancing with-

From across the way, Gikk has listened to her thoughtfully and finally decided to ask, "Pardon if this question is too forward but is there something between us?"

That woke her up.

Haru jerked up from her seat, a denial stammering from her lips. When she felt a fierce blush start to work it way up her neck, she looked at the window and wondered if she could squeeze out it.

"Forgive me," He said, with a smile and a bow of his head in apology. "That was entirely too forward. It's clear from your embarrassment I have made you uncomfortable."

"No, it's not that I mean, I do and I would," The red of her cheeks could rival the rising sun, she was sure, "I mean, you were and I am – there was…"

The laugh broke through her ranting, warm and short. "I was a cat figurine and you are a beautiful young woman. I think I get it."

A gloved hand was offered to her, which she took with the lightest returning pressure possible. She feverishly hoped he wouldn't notice her sweaty palms. A tug later and she was resting beside him on his side of the train, tucked against his chest. No words were exchanged, just the sound of the train huffing away, the steady clicks of the tracks and her heart pounding. Even that faded as the embarrassment gave way to fatigue and forgetting to feel awkward, Haru was soon sleeping.

~.~

As soon as they exited the train, it rushed away with a 'huff huff' of a goodbye. Like Gikki had predicted, having cleared the last platform the line, it did what all magical trains do. It kept right on going, the tracks and the train vanishing under the sea. After the last cart had been swallowed by the waves and Haru had shoved past the uncomfortable thought of how close she had come to drowning, the pair began to search around the train stop.

"There should be a sign around here directing us to our next destination." Gikk commented, having taken the sheet of directions from Haru. "Only, I don't see one."

The pair began to search, neither wandering out of the other's sight.

"We fell for it!" The girl declared loudly. There was no sign or even an indication that there ever had been a sign. "I can't believe we fell for it! 'Get on the spooky magical train that will take you far from here with no chance of coming back.' I'm pretty sure that's a textbook villain trick. Dang it!"

"Do you really think we've been tricked?" Gikk asked dubiously. "Because I'm not sure the fault lies with Boh. I think we needed to get off over there." He pointed in the direction where the train had just vanished. Way, way across the sea, was a distant landmass, little more than a green smear on the horizon.

"Really?" Haru asked, confusion quickly replacing anger. "But the train went under the water." She pointed up at herself. "I can't breathe underwater."

"Maybe it was spelled to allow the passengers to breathe or maybe we missed a connection? Or, maybe you're right." He shrugged. "In the end, we're strangers in a stranger land and all we have is this to go on." He motioned at the directions in his hand. "I say we favor that the mistake was ours, not due to malicious intent and try to remedy it."

"So what you're saying is that we need to get across the ocean." Haru scanned the horizon. "You wouldn't happen to know any flying spells or have the power of teleportation?"

The man smiled. "If I do, I don't remember how to cast them or any other spell. I'm not entirely sure I can swim."

"Walking it is." She smiled back. She couldn't help it. "So, right or left?"

Both directions sported the same view - a valley that stretched on and on bordered by a thin strip of beach that had gritty brown sand. Neither way offered much encouragement.

"This way." Gikk said after considering each way. He was pointing to the left. "Our best bet would be to find a town along the coast and seek out transportation. Not all spirits can fly or breathe underwater. Some actively avoid it. Not to mention human servants and the like. That means there must be a ferry that services that island."

"Ok, so looking for a coastal town. That makes sense. Why this way though? You have some magical feeling? Or you're seeing a otherworldly sign that tells you what we seek is that way?"

"Afraid not." Again his hand was offered. "If you want to know why left instead of right," He smiled and there was a playful mischief in his eyes. "Why not?"

Haru blinked, taking his hand, this time without blushing. There was no way to argue with logic like that.

"If it helps," He offered as they started down the left path, "I do have a good feeling about this way."

And the pair disappeared up the valley and over the ledge.


	7. Bad

A/N – I had fun with this chapter. It ended up being extremely long, so I cut it in to two chapters. Which means you're going to get another update this weekend! Thanks everyone for reading!

~.~

The air smelled like rotten eggs. The sky looked like it was going to rain. And, most importantly, she was running.

It wasn't the break neck speed it had been ten minutes ago. Not because she was any less scared than she had been - a quick glance behind confirmed, oh most certainly yes, they were still being pursued, but because she wasn't in that great of shape.

Shock and amaze, Gikk wasn't doing any better. Gasping and wheezing, they took turns falling behind. The only thing that kept them going was the sight of the other's back as they pulled ahead on the dirt path.

Behind them, a mighty roar split the air, 'TO-TO-ROOO'

Seeing she was starting to fall behind again, Haru dug deep and sprinted forward.

'Ohmygod it's going to eat us!' She called when she was within earshot.

Gikk shook his head, grabbing the rim of his hat and shoving it down to keep it on his unruly hair. 'Don't think so. I'm going to stop running now. You go on ahead.' He called to Haru as she overtook him on the path.

"You're going to what!"

The young man skidded to a stop, spinning to face the charging monster all in one smooth motion. Haru was unable to arrest her forward motion with the same grace and she stumbled forward a step more before falling flat on her behind.

The large beast looked like an owl that made friends with a squirrel but massive, it was way taller than Gikk and twice as wide a round. Its large belly was spotted and round. Its ears were long and thin, the face finished off with thick black whiskers branching away from a gigantic grin.

The monster stopped its fast pace with one final, huge step that sent the leaves trembling and just stood there, staring forward at Gikk with an unreadable look on its furred face.

The gentleman took off his hat with a flourish and bowed his head, wild orange hair going everywhere. "Pardon me, sir. We didn't mean to startle you. I understand it caught you by surprise when my lovely companion gracelessly fell –

"Hey!" Haru grumbled, rubbing her sore behind.

"– In to your den and awoke you. Please forgive us."

The beast smiled widely, revealing far too many teeth for Haru's comfort. It returned Gikk's bow and lifted up its large paw, offering back the cane that Gikk must have dropped in his haste to get Haru out of the hole.

"Oh I see." Gikk took the cane and smiled. "You were only trying to return this. You have my thanks."

The young girl walked over a little stiff, taking up a place behind Gikk and peering over his shoulder at the large…animal? "What is it?" She whispered.

"Haven't the foggiest."

Haru considered the beast, "Oh hey, you're from around here right? Do you by chance know where we could catch a ferry over to that island?"

The creature smiled wider, eyes shining, as if pleased it had been asked for help. It lifted its paw and pointed in the direction they had been running. Which turned out to be the 'left' that Gikk had the good feeling about in the first place.

"Thank you very much." Haru said, her fear quickly fading. "Sorry for falling on your head."

Without another word, the beast made a wide turn, landed with another loud 'THUMP' and moved back towards the woods.

The pair bowed in farewell as the beast waddled back in the forest, vanishing.

"At least we know we're going in the right direction after all." Haru said, with a smile.

Gikk didn't answer. He stared after the beast, a hand resting lightly on his chin in thought.

"Did that beast strike you as odd?" He asked, after they had once again started down the tiny twisting path.

"Yes! One of the strangest things I've ever seen, well at least before I came here. I thought he was going to eat us for sure. It's crazy to think something that big with that many teeth could be kind."

Gikk shook his head, still looking confused. "Not that sort of odd. He seemed, out of place. He was a spirit of the wood but different from what we ought to have found if we were still in the world where the bathhouse is."

"Oh?" The girl crossed her hands behind her back and scrunched her face up in thought. "I guess that train took us further off track than we thought. Is it possible to travel to a world within a world?"

The man shrugged with a sigh. "I suppose anything is possible here. I feel I ought to remember something important but I can't. That knowledge is tucked away out of reach. We have no choice but to carry on." He regarded the grass stains on her skirt. "Are you ok? That was quite the fall back there."

"I'm fine. I've had way worse." Mentally she replayed a few of her less graceful moments, like the time she fell down the stairs because she wasn't fully awake one morning or the time she touched the hot iron her mom was patching quilts with or the time she was walking down the street and tripped over nothing… Cringing, she kept all those recollections silent. "Anyway, I'm good now."

Gikk smiled and offered his arm, which she took and together they continued down the path in companionable silence.

~.~

It was midday when the rolling hills and vast coastline was interrupted by a large town perched on a hill. Buildings of all colors sprouted up around the town center, crowding close to the large clock tower that was clearly the pride of the city. The big clock face shone bright in the sun, every number polished with painstaking care. The thin second hand raced around the face, smooth as oil on water.

Upon approach their approach Haru and Gikk could see cars and bikes racing by on the street. A large pedestrian mall ran down the center of the downtown and hundreds of people crowded the streets, rushing to and fro on their lunch breaks.

Haru stopped in her tracks, watching the bustle of the city with growing confusion. "These are people, aren't they? They aren't spirits, right?"

The young man paused beside her as they watched a mother pull along a young boy down the sidewalk, gripping a shopping bag in her other hand. "I believe they are, yes. Very human from the looks."

"I'm confused. Why is there a human city in the spirit world?"

"The best answer would be the most obvious. We aren't in the spirit world right now. Stands to reason, there are probably gateways all over the place. We likely wandered through one and didn't even notice. I think there is a "Spirit world" and a "Human world" but there is literally thousands of places where the two run together. Like strands of a web, branching out from their centers and in places, the strands tangle in to one."

Haru considered his words, nodding. "You know, I think you're right. It would explain the music room."

"Music room?" He asked, but he seemed distracted, looking over the heads of the crowds, trying to get a better view of the area.

"Yes, at the high school. There are a lot of rumors about ghosts haunting the music room but it being linked to another world makes more sense."

"Oh and why's that?" He encouraged, while edging his way through the crowd of people.

"Because no one's ever heard of a ghost duck and that's so lame and impossible sounding, it's probably true. Who would make that up?" Haru rolled her eyes but before she could continue she noticed Gikk was moving forward in the crowd with a sense of purpose.

She hurried after him, increasing her pace to keep up. "What is it?" She asked as she fell in step beside him.

"I thought I saw something, over by the pier."

Haru looked over to where he was heading. It didn't shock her that, out of the five piers that serviced a small inlet of shops, it was the one that looked most likely to fall in to the sea. "Was it by chance a good something you saw?" She asked hopefully. "A non five-armed- multi-eyed-frog monster something?"

He smiled, laughing. "Could be. Doubtful - but who am I to dash the hopes of such an innocent lady?"

"Was that your roundabout way of saying it's a bad something? Because if it's a bad something, I vote we stick to the town. We might be able to get a boat or a plane back home, if this is the right world."

Gikk broke free of the crowd and headed down to the less busy harbor. Being midday, all the boats had long since made dock, all the fresh fish had been bought and the place had a general feeling of 'closed.'

He only slowed down once, to wait for Haru to catch up and finally stopped at the beginning of the pier he had pointed out.

It went out pretty far in to the ocean, dotted with places to tie off boats and a few very old looking curls of thick rope.

"What do you see, Haru?" He asked, tucking a hand in to the pocket of his white vest.

She squinted out over the wooden planks, focusing until her eyes hurt from the effort. "I see a quick trip in to the water. I don't think this pier could hold our weight. Look, the boards are practically rotting while I watch."

"Exactly. Yet the other piers are in good repair. Only this one at the end has been neglected. Now why do you suppose that is?"

"Recession?" Haru guessed. "Maybe they don't use this one as much? I don't know I'm not really a boat person. I don't go to the harbor unless I'm going with my mom shopping ohmygoodness, my mom!" Haru nearly screamed, panic causing her heart rate to triple. "My _mom_! Oh no! She's going to be so worried!"

Without thinking, she grabbed the front of Gikk's jacket; frantically shaking the taller man to demand his full attention and physically stress the amount of trouble she was going to be in. "It's been like two days now! My mom is going to be worried sick! She probably filled a police report! She probably thinks I'm rebelling and ran away from home! I'm not rebelling!"

"Your mother?" Gikk asked, confused. Clearly her mother was among the memories lost.

"Yes my mom!" Haru took a deep breath and loosened her grip on his jacket, but didn't let go. "Oh I'm so grounded."

A hand rested on her shoulder, a light comforting gesture. "It might be that time passes here differently, Haru. She might not even know you're gone yet."

Haru looked up to him, her brown eyes looking hopeful. "You really think so?"

Gikk smiled, again with that glint of mischief. "No, not really. If we are in your world now, time likely resumed its pace once we entered it, so it's at least been an additional day since our adventure started. And all that time in the in the bath house? Could have been weeks back at our world. You never know." He finished with a half smile and a shrug.

Haru's eye twitched. "You are very…_abrupt_… as a human." She muttered and let him free of her grasp. "Next time, try lying a little bit."

"We're on an adventure, Haru!" He beamed, wrapping his arm around her shoulder. "What is an angry parent compared to seeing other worlds!"

"You're only saying that because you aren't going to the feel the wrath of aforementioned parental figure." Haru whispered under her breath. She wasn't sure where he was getting his endless enthusiasm from. Maybe without memories he was more carefree. He was a lot more sarcastic, apparently.

"Now try again, really look at the pier." He urged. He moved her over and positioned her so that she was a foot away from it and facing directly down the center. He leaned closer, head resting near hers to get a better idea of where she was looking.

Haru blinked and looked, really looked. She listened to the sound of the village and tried to force it to the back of her mind. Heard the sound of the waves splashing with smacking sounds against the boards that held the pier up from the ocean and tried to think of nothing but this forgotten little port. And there, right there in the corner of her eye, was a flash of light and a lurching feeling in the pit of her stomach and suddenly, they weren't alone on the pier anymore.


	8. Ice Cream

A/N – This is a touch late. Tee hee? Thank you for the reviews and the alerts. If you read any of my stories but never review, consider leaving a simple smile emote. Cause you never know when I might need a smile.

Ps – I think this might turn in to an epic. :D

~.~

The sky faded away to dusk in a blink of her eyes. Suddenly, lights sprang on in the buildings closest to the pier, like blowing candles out but in reverse. The night sprang alive around her.

Down from the town, milling around the stationary pair of onlookers, spirits and forest animals wandered down to the previously abandoned pier. Some stopped and chatted, others were dragging luggage after them in a hectic manner.

"What in the world?" Haru whispered to herself. A heartbeat ago, it had been midday; the air had stunk of fish and salt water. Now, it was nighttime and she couldn't place the smell around her but it wasn't entirely pleasant.

The rundown pier wasn't so forgotten now. It was lit up like a party. Banners strung from post to post, while passengers that had already boarded threw confetti over the heads of the crowd below. Good natured laughing and talking, mixed heavily with clicks and purrs and a gurgling noise filled the entire harbor.

A long line of creatures was waiting to board a huge ferry that had appeared out of nowhere. Haru spun around to make sure the village was still there – and it was, but it was now a dull color and slightly out of focus, like it was covered in fog and just not that important.

"And that," Gikk concluded, "is what I mean about worlds running together. Human world, you see a pier that has been forgotten but in the spirit world, that same pier is a vibrant port." He smiled to her with a subtle pleased look. Likely because Haru had managed to squash the panic she had felt and not run around like a nutcase, jabbering about haunted harbors. "Come on now, let's see if this can take us to where we need to go."

"You want us, to get on that?" She thumbed over her shoulder to the ferry. It was packed like a clown car, a few of the smaller spirits were hanging out windows. Not that they seemed to mind, they were shouting and waving and carrying on just as loudly as the larger spirits that were crowding the inside rooms.

He nodded, the smile now turning up in to a grin that Haru was starting to understand meant 'exciting' things in her very near future. She couldn't help herself, she smiled back.

Slightly up hill from the harbor, was a giant, windowed service building that declared "Customer Service" in golden lettering. The line to any one of the four windows wasn't too terribly long.

Haru and Gikk moved to stand in the one ending nearest them.

Folding her hands in front of her, she tried to be polite and only stare at the other patrons with sideways glances or by pretending to admire some nearby building. The courtesy was not returned.

Shortly after they joined the end of the line, the whispering started. In front of them, a pair of what Haru guessed was mushrooms with faces and beanies, kept glancing back at her and Gikk, glaring. She caught snippets of the conversation.

"Used to be such a nice town too. Seems like they'll let anyone in these days!"

"I know! And the smell! Humans have the worst smell."

"Wizards aren't much better and you know how _wizards_ are, always meddling."

Haru edged closer to Gikk, who, she realized, was humming a tune very lightly under his breath. She was sure he could hear the mushrooms (it wasn't like they were trying not to be overheard) but for some reason, he looked only amused by their rudeness. He even gave an indulgent bow to the brown spotted one when it turned around to get a better look at him.

With a 'hmph' and an 'I never!" the two mushroom…things, wiggled out of the line in front of them and slinked off to another.

After a time, the line got shorter and soon and the two found themselves standing before a cashier, who was – of course – a frog. This one, thankfully, wasn't the same from the bathhouse. For one thing, it was a girl Haru was pretty sure, judging by the outrageously red lipstick and bright yellow ribbon tied around its forehead.

"Next!" She yelled in a high-pitched nasally voice. The girl frog blinked in surprise to see a human and a wizard heading towards her stall. "Can I help you?" She asked, doubtfully. As if she could have anything such an odd pair would want.

Gikk flashed her a charming smile, pulling the directions Boh had given him from his front vest. "I hope so. Could you tell me if this ferry could take us here?"

Frog girl looked down at the scrap of paper, suspiciously, "Wow are you ever lost." She said, sighing. "Did you get on here?" She asked, pointing a webbed finger to the 'x' that marked the train station they had first been led them to.

"We did." He confirmed.

"Well that's your problem then. That train doesn't go to Zeniba's island anymore. They transferred that line to service a more popular route. The only way there now is the ferry." She leaned around Gikk and yelled, "Next!"

"Hold on, we need to get back to Zeniba's island. Can we buy tickets for the ferry here?"

The frog considered him, not even bothering to look at Haru standing to his right. "Tickets are sold here but you aren't buying any. Next!" She shouted, trying to dismiss Gikk.

"Hey!" Haru interjected, leaning over Gikk to face the she-frog. "Don't be so rude! We're paying customers and we demand service!" She hit her fist on the top of the counter, trying to look intimidating.

The frog quickly covered her nose with her hand, trying to block out the smell of the human. "Fine fine! You don't have to be rude. Two tickets back all that way is going to be four spirit tokens. And we don't take credit!" She threatened.

Haru turned her nose up at the rude frog. "That's better. You heard her Gikk, four spirit tokens, please!"

The youth patted his pockets sheepishly. "I'm not sure what a 'spirit token' is but I am sure I haven't got any."

Haru spun around to face him, "You're kidding right? You don't have any money?"

Swallowing hard, the slender red head weakly shook his head. "I probably didn't have much use for coin or tokens before and if I did have some, I surely don't remember where they would be now…"

A loud "NEXT!" later and the two were pushed out of the way. Haru looked back in time to catch the satisfied look on the girl frog's face.

"Can you believe that." She said, moving out of the way of the ferry traffic. "Now what? And what is with frogs? Are they all that rude?"

Raking a hand through his orange hair (Haru noticed this was starting to become a habit for him when he was thinking), the young wizard considered the crowd. "I suppose we have two choices. One, we backtrack; find the train station we first got off on and take it back to the bathhouse. We could try asking for an updated map. Two, we go about earning these spirit tokens."

"Neither of those sounds very promising." Haru sighed, taking a seat on the edge of the pier and draping her legs down towards the water.

Taking a seat next to her, Gikk looked out over the water and at the sliver of a moon that was starting to rise, "Or three, we give up." His smile faltered only for a heartbeat, when he added, softly, "No need for memories for that, I think."

Haru didn't _quite_ take his hand after that sad remark. Really, she was only moving her hand to rest on the ground near his. If a few fingers happened, by chance, to trail over to his side of the wood plank and come to a rest comfortably over a few of _his_ fingers, well that was just a coincidence.

"You're right, we have to try." Despite her poor mood, never mind the tiny panic attacks she had every time her mind wandered to her mother, she found a smile for him. "I vote we make money. I don't think Boh is going to be helpful if we go back to him. He was pretty clear about no humans in the bath house."

"I second that." Gikk smiled back at her and then clapped loudly, breaking the sober mood. "Now, lets see. The quickest way to make money would probably be to go door to door and offer our services to the locals." He leapt up to his feet, pulling her up beside him. "And we can start right here!"

~.~

It turned out that in the forest that boarded the town, was a second much smaller but nosier town for the forest folk. A few of the more human like spirits seemed to prefer houses to dirt or caves. Then there was a handful of what Gikk referred to as 'witches' or 'humans that didn't really belong to either world anymore'. Their houses were easy to pick out because they all had elaborate herb gardens in the front.

The first house they came to turned out to belong to a mole spirit, who looked very much like an old, bald, fat man wearing spectacles. Gikk offered to knock on the door while Haru waited by the road.

It hadn't ended well.

Minutes later, they were being chased off the mole's property while being threatened with an old turnip in one hand and a broken lantern in the other.

The next house had a faded red door. When Gikk politely knocked, no one answered. From down by the gate where she was waiting, Haru watched shadows move across the windows of the house and got a very unhealthy vibe from the place. She was extremely glad when Gikk came back and they walked on.

"I get the feeling wizards and humans aren't a very welcomed sight around here." Haru commented as they walked up to the next house.

"Only takes one yes." He retorted. "Someone has got to want something in exchange for a few coins. Yard work or a good story – something."

"Hope you're right." She yawned. It had been day when they were in the human village but it had turned unexpectedly to night at the pier. Her body seemed to think night time equaled bedtime, no matter what time zone they just skipped from.

The final house they came to had an impressive herb garden in the front. It wasn't as brightly colored as the other houses and some of the fog that draped over the town was snaking its way over the front yard and the house. For the first time, Haru noticed that there were _things_ moving in the fog. Shapes but of what, she couldn't tell. When Haru leaned in closer to try and get a better look, it was suddenly, blindingly, daytime again and her head hurt something fierce.

The sounds of the village, horns honking, cars rushing by, people talking, came back like someone had switched on a radio. A second later, Gikk seemed to pop out of nowhere, adjusting his hat.

"Careful Haru, witches and their places of power are between two worlds. If you're careless, you'll keep popping back and forth like that until you're quiet dizzy."

"Noted." She answered, rubbing her temples. "Wait," She asked, a little unsettled, "how come I can go back and forth like that?"

Gikk just smiled and knocked a gloved hand against the wood door. A few moments later, there was the sound of some rustling and door creaked open. The woman that answered was nothing like Haru was expecting. She was an older lady with a light blue dress, kind eyes and brown hair that was streaked liberally with gray.

"Yes?" She asked expectantly looking from Haru to Gikk.

Gikk quickly removed his hat, "Excuse me miss, my friend and I are in a bit of a predicament. Do you mind if we come in?"

The woman studied the pair and must have been ok with what she saw because she smiled brightly, pushing the door all the way open. "Yes, please do come in."

Once they were seated on a large sofa, their hostess took a chair across the way and kindly asked, "So why do I find a wizard at my door? It's been years since anyone magical moved in to the neighborhood. Are you here to study?"

"We're travelers, actually. My friend and I are in need of passage on a certain ferry down at the dock but we find ourselves without the means to pay for our tickets. We were hoping we might be able to offer our services in exchange for spirit tokens, had you any to spare."

The lady smiled politely but shook her head. "I'm sorry, I'm afraid I can't help you. I've only the one token left and I'm holding on to it. One never knows when they might need to make a trip to another world."

"Please." Haru interrupted from her spot on the couch. She leaned forward earnestly. "Than can you tell us where the nearest airport is? We need to get back to Tokyo."

"Tokyo?" The witch asked. "Never heard of it, sorry. If you've been traveling through the spirit world exclusively, it's highly unlikely you're in the same world you started in now. There are hundreds of worlds out there, maybe more." She stopped to consider, looking them over thoughtfully. "Though I suppose, since you yourselves are from another world, if you have something rare to offer, I'd be willing to trade. If not, I could make you a broomstick, if this young lady knows how to fly one?"

Having started her adventure with only the clothes she was wearing and the pocket watch Gikk had given her, Haru had nothing she was willing to part with. A glance over at her friend confirmed more of the same. Even if he did give up his hat and cane, that hardly seemed like a rare commodity from a distant world.

"Excuse me for asking," Haru said after a minute. A thought had occurred to her. "Are any of those herbs you are growing used for teas?"

The witch nodded, her eyes filling with pride and her beaming smile made her seem years younger, "Potions, mostly, that's the trade I practice here for the town. I learned it from my mother, years ago now. But my, you do have a good eye. Quite a few of them can be used for teas. Tea is one of my hobbies, a tiny indulgence, if you will."

"I've got it!" Haru declared triumphantly. "Gikk can make you the very best cup of tea you've ever had! He's the very best our world has to offer, hand's down! He uses his own blend, so I guarantee you something you can't get anywhere else!"

Next to her on the couch, Gikk stiffened in surprise at the revelation and his part in the deal.

The woman considered the wizard on her sofa. "Tea you say? Tea from a wizard, oh my that does seem promising. Ok, you have a deal. A cup of excellent tea in exchange for my spirit coin."

"You mean it?" The young girl jumped up from the sofa and bowed deeply, with a grateful smile. "You won't regret it."

~.~

In the kitchen, Gikk tied an apron around him waist while looking around at the pots and pans dangling on hooks from the ceiling. A large, grand old fireplace had been built in the wall for cooking. The lazy fire crackled at the fresh logs and the smell of smoke and old burnt food lingered in the air.

The sleeves of his suit were rolled up and he considered for the first time the many tins of herbs in front of him with a thoughtful, and lost, look.

A wild strand of orange hair kept falling in to his eyes. He was in dire need of a hair cut.

"So, Haru seems to think I can make an amazing tea using my own blend of herbs." He pulled his gloves off and ran a bare finger over the tops of the tins. "Shouldn't be that hard." A few of the names on the labels were familiar while other names didn't ring a bell. Three of the tins, he recognized the names but couldn't recall the flavor of the herbs within or what their use was. The curse affecting his memory seemed to be a selective thing indeed.

"Nothing ventured!" He declared, picking up a few of the jars. "For Haru's sake, I shan't disappoint. If she thinks I can make tea of worth, than I shall! For the young lady, I will do whatever it takes!" In a rush of energy, he started pulling random handfuls of herbs from the various jars and tossing them in to a pot of boiling water hanging over the fire.

~.~

An awfully long time had past before Gikk returned to a livingroom. He was missing his jacket and his suit sleeves were rolled up his bare arms. In his hands, he was carrying a full serving tray.

Haru watched him as he started to serve the tea. It was the first time she had seen his hands without the gloves and she couldn't stop staring at them. He had very slender, long fingers with trimmed, well kempt nails. His hands looked soft and the way he poured the tea in to three glasses with such grace made her proud – for some reason.

"Here you are ladies, my own special blend." He smiled a charming smile and took his seat next to Haru, picking up his own cup.

As one, the three lifted their cups to their mouths and took a drink of the delicate yellow liquid inside.

And as one, they all started spitting and gagging in unison.

"It burns!'

"Ugh it can't be un-tasted!"

Haru, Gikk and the woman quickly put their cups back on the table, each trying in their own way to rid their mouths of the horrid taste. While Gikk was busy trying to hold back tears and remain composed, their hostress had ran in the kitchen and was running water over her tongue. Haru had to settle for coughing and trying hard not to swallow. If she was to try to put in to words the taste of the tea, it fell somewhere between sour cough medicine, chewing rotten cheese and something more exotic – it wasn't so much a flavor as a feeling of 'wrongness' that promised she was probably going to be ill later.

The witch was the first to get her composer back and she reentered the living room, looking a little pale. "Is that what passes for tea in your world? That was the most horrid thing I think I've ever experienced."

Pale and feeling a little ill, Haru looked at the man beside her in horror, who looked equally horrified that he had created something that tasted so foul. "No," He winched, blinking back the huge tears trying to escape his eyes. "I don't think so. Oh I hope not. I think if that's tea, I shan't ever drink it again." He looked over at Haru questioningly. "Is that tea? The 'excellent' tea you were speaking of?"

"No. That is not 'excellent' tea" Haru added, "That wasn't tea at all. It was an attack on my poor mouth." She swallowed hard. "I guess we can add making tea as another thing you forgot."

Across the room, the witch was rummaging through a box, tossing out scraps of paper, bits of twisted straw, an old red ribbon, leaning further and further in as she neared the bottom of her storage. "Ah ha!" She announced as she pulled out an acorn, pinched between two fingers. "Here. Your payment." She walked over and dropped it in Gikk's hand.

"But I don't understand." He stared at the acorn in his hand. It could have been an aftereffect of the terrible tea but for a single heartbeat, the acorn flashed gold in the light. "I thought the tea was horrid."

"The worst." The witch nodded in solemn agreement. "But it's something from another world I haven't tried before. And something that tastes that terrible is probably good for me or maybe I can find some use for it. As far as I'm concerned, you kept your end of the bargain."

"That's awfully generous of you." Haru said, feeling a little guilty. Having drunk the tea herself, she felt bad taking the coin, even if it did get them closer to home.

"A deal is a deal and I won't hear another word against it." The witch led the pair over to the door. "Oh and one more thing, might want to try some where else for the rest of the tokens. This town didn't have much of a magical populace until I came here to train, years and years ago. The creatures of the wood and of magic are making their way back but they are leery of most humans. Trust me, I'm the only one around here that is going to be willing to part with their money. But don't worry spirit tokens or magic coins as we call them here, are the only currency in all the worlds that is universal, so no matter where you go, you have the chance of collecting the rest you need."

Gikk removed his hat. "Thank you for the sound advice and for your kindness."

The lady bowed her head in return. "I hope you find your way home safely."

"Thank you!" Haru called, closing the gate of the yard behind her. "That was easy." She said as they walked back down to the village. It was later in the afternoon and the traffic was getting heavier as more people started heading home for the evening.

"More or less." Gikk added, absently rubbing a hand over his stomach. "She's probably right. I doubt we're going to find any one else to part with a spirit token in these parts. We should start looking for another town or another world – whichever comes first."

Haru didn't like the idea of jumping from world to world. It made it seem like her home was further and further away. "How about we find a place to stay for the evening? We might not be able to work for spirit tokens, but I bet getting a room for the night is a different story. I really could was a shower and some real sleep. In a bed."

Gikk nodded, that grin easing it's way back on to his face. "I completely agree. Let's find a place to rest for the evening. How exciting!"

"How in the world does that equal exciting to you?" Haru asked, blinking in puzzlement.

He simply smiled, tucked his cane under one arm and grabbed Haru's hand in his.

~.~


	9. Rugs

A/N – Rewatching the studio films and all I can say is 'wow'. Some of these are much, much darker than I remembered. Another extra long chapter that I split in two. No promises but fingers crossed I'll have the next installment soon. Thank you for the reviews, the alerts and any and all suggestions.

~.~

With a sigh of satisfaction, Haru dried the last of the water from her hair. Nearby, on an ornate chair near her hotel bed was a stack of newly purchased clothing from the town center and a light gray waist length jacket.

It was hard to believe the sudden change of luck.

~.~

It had all began once Haru and Gikk had entered the town proper. The proud clock at the city center had rang its afternoon bells. Children and teens filled the sidewalks as schools emptied. Cars and bikes raced down the streets as workers left for the day. The town was a rising crescendo of life and noise, the traffic pressing Haru and Gikk on all sides. Their travel from shop to shop asking for work was slow.

After being turned away from a shoe store that had no need for inexperienced workers, Haru sighed. "This is turning out to be harder than I thought. Such a big city, you'd think earning a few bucks would be simple."

"Yes, you would think." Gikk was interrupted by a loud gasp of amazement.

"Huh?" Haru stopped, turning around to look behind them. Standing unabashed on the street was a group of teenage girls.

"Excuse me sir!" A tall brunette in the group moved forward. Her school bag gripped nervously in front of her like a shield.

"Me?" Gikk asked, also stopping and turning to look.

"Yes, um, sir, where are you from? Your accent, it's so-

"It's so dreamy!" Gushed another of the girls, this one a red head. "We've never heard anything like it!"

"And your suit! I bet you're a real gentleman!" Interrupted a blonde.

"Not like the guys around here!" Chimed in another brunette, pressing in to get closer to Gikk.

"Me?" He repeated, his confusion quickly growing to concern as his personal space was devoured by the group of eager teens. "A little help?" He called over the heads of the girls to Haru - who immediately moved in to action.

"Sorry, excuse us, we're in a hurry." She wedged herself between the girls, planted her hands on Gikk's back and pushed him free of the circle. Without looking back, they quickly turned down another street this one a dead end that boasted only a single shop with big open windows trimmed in green striped curtains.

"Those girls were very enthusiastic." Gikk mused in thoughtful consideration. "They call me 'dreamy'." He grinned.

Haru burst out laughing, she couldn't help herself. "Girls kind of lose it for a British accent."

"A what?"

"Nevermind." Haru said, shaking her head. "I'll explain another time. Let's try this shop."

The inside had a few tables, a long counter took up most the space with a back wall made of mirrors and a row of red topped bar stools before it. Bottles and bottles of colorful syrups filled the back wall, each with a gooseneck spout for pouring.

"Oh I know this!" Gikk exclaimed, a delighted gleam in his eyes. "It's a soda shop!"

"You have memories of a soda shop?" Haru asked, looking around and trying to see what the fascination was and if it would be the key to uncovering Gikk's lost past.

"None." He answered honestly, strolling over to admire the ice cream display. "But I do know I suddenly have a powerful desire to try a strawberry malt. Oh and one of fountain colas! I rather fancy one of those!"

Haru rolled her eyes with a good-natured sigh. "You have a sweet tooth. I never would have guessed. You can't remember how to make a decent cup of tea but you can, somehow, remember what an ice cream parlor is."

"I'll be right out!" Called a deep man's voice from the back. Seconds later, a tall older man dressed in a white uniform came out. His huge handle bar mustache gave the illusion that his smile went on for miles. "Craft at your service. What can I mix up for you today?"

"Nothing for me thanks." Haru put on her best smile, her voice lifting to a professional tone. "We're looking for jobs. We're only going to be in town for one night, so we only need to earn enough for a room. We're very good at doing odd end things, like cleaning if you needed it."

The man, Craft, she assumed if he was indeed the owner, glanced at Haru and then over to Gikk, who was still looking at the ice cream display with a rather disturbingly focused intent.

Craft's smile widen, if that was possible. "Well look at that, he's even wearing a white suit, almost makes him look like a soda jerk proper. That's what we're called, Miss, no offense meant to your gentleman."

Now that he had mentioned it, Gikk's suit – the areas that were not covered in the filth of traveling in a forest, was the exact same color as the uniform Craft was wearing. He continued, "I sure would like to help you two out. Truth of the matter been right slow back here, don't get much business in the off-season, cold as it's getting outside. If it was summer, no problem, I'd have work enough for ten people –.'

The bell on the door rang and rang and rang. Haru spun around to see a large group of girls rushing in to the soda shop. She recognized the girls from before out on the street and from the looks of it they had brought every other girl from their high school with them.

The shop quickly filling, girls began to crowd around Gikk.

"I want a raspberry malt, with extra whip cream!" One cried.

"I was here first!" Shouted another, pushing her way towards the ice cream display.

"They with you?" Craft asked Haru in amazement, watching the makings of a riot about to take place in his store.

"Not with us." She answered back. "They must have followed us over here. They probably think Gikk works here on account of the color of his suit." A very Hiromi thought crossed her mind. Haru sighed wistfully, loud enough to be heard over the growing crowd. "Too bad he doesn't work here, even though it would only be for a few hours, I bet he'd make a lot of money. Those girls would probably order a glass of sink water just for a chance to talk with him." She turned to see the effect of her suggestion but found only an empty space on the other side of the counter.

Over at the ice cream display case, Gikk was being dragged in the backroom by Craft – with only enough time to give a startled cry – and emerging a minute later in a full on uniform, identical to the one Craft was wearing – complete with soda jerk white hat.

The sight of Gikk in a uniform drove the girls crazy. Orders were being yelled faster than the two men could fill – mostly with Craft doing the work and Gikk handing out sodas, ice cream and malts to the smiling crowd.

In no time, the tip jar was close to overflowing and the crowd showed no signs of letting up. Haru was tempted to taste one of the soda's Gikk had mixed but the remembrance of his tea turned out to be too strong of a deterrent. After an hour or so, Craft broke away from the counter long enough to walk over to the booth Haru was sitting in. He handed her a fold of light green notes with promise of more once they closed up shop.

"Go see about getting you a couple of rooms at the hotel down by the dock, can't miss it. Maybe do a little shopping. I promise I'll keep an eye on him for you." Craft smiled kindly and wove his way through the girls to start back up on the ice cream orders.

Haru watched Gikk as she stood from her table, hesitating on her way to the door. The grace in which he held the syrup bottles down to the way he shook up an ice cream malt like it was a top shelf martini, was silly and breath taking all wrapped up in one.

He was enjoying this, such a minor, everyday experience and he was doing it with a passionate gusto. He looked up, catching her eyes and he smiled wildly, holding up the lopsided ice cream cone he was working on. The humor of the situation had not been lost on him and he mouthed, "I'm making ice cream" with a wicked smile.

Haru smiled, nodding her encouragement and then motioned towards the door, indicating she'd go get them rooms. He nodded back, matching her smile and gave her a tiny wave – which sent the lopsided cone toppling.

~.~

Back in her hotel room, fresh out of the shower and wrapped in a thick white towel Haru watched the busy streets below.

If she used her imagination, she wasn't stranded worlds away from her own home – she was on vacation in a distant land, maybe America, traveling with her good friend. When she looked at it that way, she could understand how Gikk must feel. If she didn't have memories of her mother or the home she was missing than all the worlds out there were open to her to explore and experience. Plus they had already got one of the spirit tokens. They were closer to getting home and possibly restoring Gikk's past.

With renewed optimism and energy, Haru pulled on one of her new outfits; black leggings with a yellow sweater dress that came to just below her knees and topped it off with a long, light jacket. She had to admit it was a far cry from her usual fair. It looked more business casual than high school student on vacation but it was suited to the chill in the night air.

And clean, she couldn't forget clean. Going three days in the same outfit was starting to make her feel all sorts of gross. She supposed if they had not lucked out and made spending money, she would have gladly settled for a potato sack over her school outfit by day five.

Exiting the hotel, Haru was beaming from ear to ear with an infectious smile. The town seemed like a vacation resort, smelling like the sea and cooking food, all mixed together with a hint of autumn rain. Good-natured crowds roamed from brightly colored shops to hot food stands. Even the occasional cop that moved through the press of people was smiling politely or sharing a laugh with a local.

She turned back towards the coastline, heading for the malt shop. Gikk would be getting off soon and they had enough money to make a good start at finding other magical places and getting supplies. The two of them could go shopping together, maybe do some sight–seeing and the prospect of doing it all while in Gikk's company sent her heart skipping. In short, her mood couldn't be higher. Nothing could erase that warm smile from her face.

"Excuse me, miss?" called a timid, low voice. Behind her, a young man was approaching. Right away, Haru was struck by how tired he looked. He had huge, dark circles under his eyes, so dark that they were almost the same color as the large circular birthmark on his left cheek. He practically had to drag himself the last few steps to address her.

"Can I help you?" She asked, her uncertainty quickly covered by politeness.

The man took a deep breath and swallowed loudly before mustering up the strength to answer. "Did you say you were from Tokyo? Back at the witch's house, you said you were from Tokyo, right?"

Surprised but hopeful that maybe he too was a wizard or magical creature sent by the witch to help, Haru answered quickly, "Yes, I am! Why do you ask?"

Instead of answering, huge tears welled up in the man's eye, tears that spilled over and rushed down his face, further shocking Haru to the point of speechlessness. The polite smile was quickly fading from her face.

"I – I found you!" He cried, stepping forward closer and closer.

It was only now that Haru noticed how far she had wandered from the busy streets, how far away the noise of the crowd was, how dark and distant any help seemed. Her mind added two and two together, belatedly figuring that this weirdo had waited for her to be alone to approach her.

"Get back! I'm warning you." She threatened, searching around for something to use on the menacing stranger.

"No no! It's ok!" He said quickly, raising his hands up. "I'm one of you! I've come to take you home!"

Not sure how else to take the odd statement but very sure she didn't want to go anywhere with him, Haru screamed and swung her shopping bag at his head. Quicker than thought, the stranger clapped his hands together and her shopping bag warped in to a huge blanket, wrapping around her several times and causing her to drop to the ground, trapped in a tight cocoon of fabric. The trinkets the former bag contained fell next to her with a rattle, coming to a rest between the cobblestones of the street.

The young man looked around nervously, dark eyes darting back to the crowds, not sure if her short scream had caught the attention of the town. Putting both his hands on the rug, he rolled it in to the forest, sweating profusely and wheezing with each step. Once he had reached the tree line, the man gave an exhausted 'whew!' and pulled an energy drink from his pocket. The tab popped back and he drank its contents greedily. With each swallow, the dark circles under his eyes lessened. Tossing the empty can back towards the town, he looked refreshed and healthier than he had been.

"Ok, now let's go home!" He cried delightfully. Flexing his arms, his body puffed up three times his former size. He reached down and tucked the still struggling rug under his arm with ease before running away in to the trees.


	10. Things go wronger

A/N - Seems to be I write one massive chapter, decide to split it up in two chapters, post one half, get interested in that second half, turn it in to one massive chapter and the cycle repeats. Not this time. Here is the one massive chapter. Hope it was worth the wait. Thanks, as always, for reading.

A young tanuki or what was better known as a raccoon spirit had been sent on a very important mission. The mission was to journey to a distant island far from his home of Tokyo and find a master shape shifter to bring back to the tanuki's tribe for they had forgotten many of the secrets of the magic.

For two and a half long years, the tanuki named Bunta searched, using the power of his own shape shifting to try and locate the lost master. His luck was poor for it turned out the island was riddled with rabbit holes. Which, as all magical animals know, often lead to other worlds and spirit realms. This made his job infinitely harder as he had to use his raccoon magic on each rabbit hole and see if perhaps it led to another world in which the master might be now living.

"Finally, I found you!" Bunta declared from inside one such rabbit hole. Shoving the rug hard, it came out of the rabbit hole portal with a '_pop!'_ and landed on the grassy hill beyond. "After years of looking I can return home! We can have a huge party to celebrate and you can teach us all the lost magic of becoming master shape shifters!" Taking another long swig and finishing his last energy drink, Bunta used his power to swell back in to the form of a large male body builder. Bald with thick muscles, a thin mustache and a bright green Speedo, he couldn't have been more out of place in the deep island forest. Bunta didn't care about that though. He was so excited and high off his apparent success at finding the master, he felt invincible.

Grabbing up the rug with ease, he started to head back on the long journey from the island to Tokyo.

Needless to say, every creature in the forest immediately stopped whatever they had been doing to stop and gawk at the absurd tanuki hauling a rolled up carpet through the trees.

"Hey you there, stop!" Called an old, frail voice. A grayed furred taunki shuffled out from the bushes and cut across Bunta's path. The old raccoon had a tail that was going bald in spots and a face that was so wrinkled with age his eyes were hidden under large folds of skin. "Aren't you the raccoon from Tokyo that was asking after Master Kario?"

Bunta nodded – his human form seeming to swell even larger with pride. "I found him too! He was dazed and confused, lost in a human city in a distant world. I've brought him back!"

The other raccoon's eye went so wide with fear the wrinkles almost folded back enough to expose the circles beneath them. "You…brought him back? You fool raccoon! Have you no respect for the dead!"

"Dead!" Gasped Bunta, so shocked he lost his mental concentration and thus, his human form evaporated, sending the rug dropping to the ground. A muffled cry sounded and the rug began wiggling around on the forest floor.

The older raccoon, in an indignant outrage, sniffed in the rug's direction. "You idiot! That's not Master Kario! That's a human!"

"It can't be!" He protested, "She smells like magic and she said she was from Tokyo even though she was in another world and she's just got to be a raccoon in disguise! I know it!"

The old tanuki gave a disgusted, "hmph! You're the reason humans say 'clever as a fox' not 'clever as a raccoon'! She's clearly human! I was coming to tell you Master Kario died years ago. He was shot by a hunter who sold his pelt for a great deal of money! Now go put her back where you found her before other humans coming looking for her!"

"But…" The raccoon seemed to deflate, getting smaller and smaller by the second, the black bands of his tail fading to a dull brown. "The master is dead…?" A sober look crossed his furred face and he looked on the verge of crying. "All those years I searched, wasted and now on top of that you tell me I have to drag her all the way back to the rabbit hole? I'm so tired and I haven't even eaten yet."

Rolling his eyes, the elder smacked the raccoon on the back of his head, sending him sprawling on the ground, "Doesn't have to be the _same_ rabbit hole you ninny – find the closest one that opens in to another world and dump her in it! Do it quickly now. I don't need any trouble in my woods."

Rubbing his sore head, the tiny, defeated raccoon snapped up the edge of the rug with his sharp teeth and started pulling the trapped girl back the way they had come.

"I can't believe it," he whined around the fabric in his mouth, "all that work for nothing." He paused, sniffing the air. Nearby tucked away under an enormous tree root, he picked up the delicate scent of peppermint and rain clouds. Rooting under the trunk with his nose, he found the entrance to the rabbit hole and sighed. "Now I have to waste more magic too. It's going to take me months to get home."

Picking up a leaf from the ground in his five fingered paw, the tanuki placed it atop his head, drawing power from the trees around him. His form melted away growing back in to the man he had been when he had first approached the young girl rolled up in the carpet.

"Sorry about this but you shouldn't go around smelling like magic." He said. "It's only going to give you problems." Having given her his departing words of wisdom, Bunta hoisted the rug up. The rabbit hole enlarged several times over with a series of cracks, opening up in to a frame of earth that showed a starry night sky over a vast mountain range.

He dropped the rug without further ceremony and watched it drop away.

"Well that's that. Now to return home and tell them I've failed." Sighing he let the forest energy go and shrank back down to his raccoon form. "Maybe they'll throw me a sympathy party. Huh?" He looked to the woods with concern. Something was running towards him from the woods and running fast, breaking branches and snapping trees as it went so whatever it was, it didn't care if it was heard. Which meant a predator. Bunta started to shift his shape, thinking a rock would be a fine choice right now.

Before he could finish his magic and to his utter shock, it was a human who broke through the trees. Cold green eyes regarded Bunta and for the first time in his short life, the raccoon felt real dread. Too scared to shift his shape, he couldn't move, couldn't run away. He could only watch what was assuredly his death run closer and closer.

The man in the white took a heartbeat to look from the raccoon to the rabbit hole and back again. His expression was angry. He charged towards Bunta his hand drawn back ready to strike. The raccoon braced himself, hoping his end would be quick. He had never seen human rage before and now he finally understood the reason the elders in his village had sent him to find the master in the first place. They couldn't possibly stand up to the humans without magic. They feared them.

And now he knew why.

Bunta closed his eyes as the man came down on him, too afraid to face his doom head on.

His nose lit up with pain and it took him a second to realize the man had _flicked_ him squarely on its tip. Hard.

Opening his watering eyes just a crack he caught a final glimpse of the man vanishing down the very same rabbit hole he had dropped the girl in to.

"Bad raccoon!" Called the man and with that, the hole snapped shut and the man in white was gone.

~.~

Inside her nearly suffocating prison, Haru was doing her best to breathe. When she first found herself trapped, she had made the mistake of trying to open her mouth to scream.

Now, she was desperately trying to close her mouth and rid herself of the taste of dirty carpet.

With every jostle of the rug, Haru swore at herself. She had been asking for trouble, counting her blessings as she had. It was inviting disaster to think that she and Gikk were in the clear. It was almost like she had never read a manga or seen a movie. The hero should never say how well things were going. It always ended up with being rolled up in a rug and kidnapped by a freaky guy.

Well, at least for her it had. If she got out of this – _when_ – she got out of the rug, she amended; she was going to make sure she kept her optimism to herself. The universe wasn't going to get any more chances to be ironic, not on her watch.

The second thing she was going to do was to use her semi-impressive yelling skills and break this jerks eardrums. She was angry enough now to be a threat – Hiromi was going to be proud of pounding she gave this guy.

Then the ground gave way and she was falling.

All thoughts of revenge and anger were washed away by a rush of life preserving adrenaline and Haru panicked. Torn between struggling to get free of the rug or trying to somehow tuck herself in further to use it as protection from the inevitable landing, she froze up.

_I'm going to die! I am so going to die! And then I'm going to kill that creep!_

There was a pulling sensation all around her and the world shifted, like riding in a car that was going down a steep, curvy mountain round. She sure she was still falling but it was slower now and more controlled. Pressure rose in her ears, stronger and stronger, blocking out all sound until her heartbeat was all she could hear.

At the same time the rug, seeming to remember it had started its life as a shopping bag, decided it wasn't going to take it any longer. The magic that had warped it's shape started to unwind. Literally.

Haru noticed quite suddenly how free and wonderful her legs felt, how airy and unrestricted. Followed by her midsection and processing upwards. Light flooded in and in a flash, the entire rug was gone, leaving Haru alone in a free fall. She had a brief second to notice the liberated shopping bag wafting away in the wind before she drew in a breath and started screaming.

Falling, falling against a backdrop of stars and a moon so full it looked orange and otherworldly, Haru couldn't believe something like this could happen to her – to _anyone_ twice. A dark form flew through the air before her. Arms wrapped around her mid section and she found herself tucked against a chest, held tight. "Gikk, is that you?" She yelled, trying to draw her head back and look. The arms tightened their grip and she stilled, burying her face against the fabric and trying to protect her eyes from the unrelenting wind.

Gradually, the wind died down, the falling slowed and unbelievably, her feet came to a rest on solid ground.

She was released from the embrace to find it was indeed Gikk who had saved her and was now looking her over with a concerned glance under the bright moonlight.

"You have a truly fine tuned gift for finding mischief." He said, a little breathless. "I'm not at all surprised that out of all the girls in the village, I find you kidnapped, falling through an alien sky, wrapped in a rug that changes in to a plastic bag with comedic timing." He ended the sentence with a half smile and admiration in his eyes, like he was the luckiest guy in the worlds.

Haru smiled back and motioned with her finger, "Just one second."

She took a deep breath, replaced her frazzled ponytail and straightened her sweater dress over her leggings.

Absolutely sure that this incident and all the ones that had followed and were to come, were somehow tied to the man before her, and not sure if she was excited or horrified by that but knowing either way he was going to get a good yelling at for – for whatever, because she needed a good yelling right now, she closed the distance between them.

"Now you listen here-"

His hand shot out and gently covered her mouth, "Do you hear that?"

Haru stopped midsentence, her train of thought skidding to a halt and she started to answer, speaking around his hand, "Hear what-"

"No shhh." He said quietly, eyes searching around the forest.

"I don't hear anything." She whispered back to him, after a minute of trying to detect anything out of the ordinary.

"Exactly." He confirmed. "This forest is utterly quiet. No forest is this quiet. It's like it is listening and watching, waiting."

Swallowing hard, all anger and especially the need to yell gone, Haru reached up and moved his hand away from her face, her eyes never stopping in their scanning of the surrounding trees. Quite aware of what she was doing and not caring, she kept a hold of his hand. "Ok my official vote is leave." She whispered softly, though even that seemed so loud in the eerie silence.

Gikk nodded, giving her hand a reassuring squeeze. "I saw how the raccoon that kidnapped you opened a portal. I might be able to recreate one on my own, but not here. We need to get out of the open. Now."

Haru mentally tucked away her question and shock at the revelation she had been kidnapped by a raccoon for later. The here and now was much more pressing and she nodded, moving slowly towards the edge of the clearing they had landed in.

There was a sharp pinch on her shoulder, followed by the sound of something landing on the ground beside her. That was followed by another and another – her whole body lighting up with pinches of pain as _tiny rocks?_ rained down around her.

"Ow!" She cried, freeing her hand from Gikk's and trying to shield herself from the onslaught.

From the trees, the rainfall of stones ceased and there was movement, eyes catching and reflecting the moonlight. Not close enough to the pair to make out what the dark shapes could be yet their voices carrying through the silence like rolling thunder, lighting up the night in sound.

"You go. Leave nameless one." Came a halting, baritone voice.

A chorus of agreement rang out.

"Leave nameless one." All the deep voices demanded. "Nameless one stay, use magic to fight."

"Fight!" Cheered the trees all around them from the dark shapes hiding away in the thick foliage of the branches.

"We will use magic, destroy the humans!" Continued the first speaker, his voice louder and deeper than all the rest. "Nameless one use power, humans die. We take back forest."

"Nameless one?" Haru asked softly, rubbing a sore spot on her exposed forearm. "There is no 'nameless' one here!" She yelled. "Leave us alone! We want nothing more than to leave your forest in peace."

The answer was more stones, falling down from the trees. Gikk was fast to react this time and draw Haru to him, most of the pebbles bouncing harmlessly off of his jacketed back.

"You're starting to make me angry!" He called as a particularly sharp stick lodged itself in his hair. "Stop this right now!" He demanded.

Immediately, the barrage ceased. In the silence that followed, Gikk hesitantly loosened his grip on Haru but did not completely move away. A tense few minutes dragged on but no further assault or demands followed.

"Huh, I really didn't expect that to work." He said, looking rather confused and slightly, deep down, pleased. "Which means they have either realized we're a bigger threat than we look or –"

Haru tensed in his arms and gave a startled scream of "RUN!"

Nodding as if the world made sense again, Gikk grabbed her hand and started running. "Or they got reinforcements!" He finished.

The pair ran through the trees, dodging the thick trunks and jumping over logs and winding around huge boulders that had freed themselves from the nearby mountains.

Behind them, the forest came alive.

Only once did Haru make the mistake of looking back. Huge apes swung from tree to tree above them, eyes glowing in the moonlight. On the forest floor, a swarm of smaller apes ran on all fours, hooting and screaming with rage and the excitement of the hunt.

She didn't turn around again after that.

"I have a horrible idea!" Gikk called to Haru as they ran.

"Can't be much worse than this!" She called back, raising a hand to protect her face from a branch.

"I think I could open a portal! But I've no idea where it would come out. Could ended awful!"

"Awful?" Haru gasped, starting to get winded.

"Bottom of the ocean, inside a volcano, I dunno – frog kingdom?" He shook his head, "No idea, be a bit of a shot in the dark."

Beside him, Haru was starting to slow down and few apes in the trees were a swing or two away from closing the distance between them. Seeing Haru exhausted and in danger made the choice for him.

Just as it had been when he was in the ice cream shop and a feeling – no a compulsion -of dread moved him towards where she had been taken and gave him the power to follow her, his mind cleared.

He grabbed her in midstride and held her tightly to him.

On the ground beneath them, unseen by either, dark lines of power raced over the forest floor, forming a perfect geometric design. It flared up in eager flickers of light and devoured the two.

There was a flash so bright all their pursuers clutched their eyes in pain, some falling to the forest floor temporarily blinded, and like that, the pair was gone.

~.~

At the top of the highest point of her castle, a woman was leaning on the railing of the balcony to her room. Her long silvery ponytail was trailing about in the wind, free from the hat that was tied loosely to her head with a smart ribbon under her neck.

In the distance, storm clouds were rolling over the open plains, trailing the horizon with sheets of rain that looked like white curtains. The taste of ozone was heavy on her tongue.

"Look!" She called with delight to the bedroom behind her, never taking her eyes off the horizon. "It's raining!"

The huff and puff of the castle beneath her feet changed its rhythmic tempo to a slower one, getting ready to settle in for the night against the oncoming storm.

"So it is!" Answered a deeply masculine voice from behind her, a smile evident in the speaker's tone. "You never cease to surprise me Sophie! I would have thought you were the kind of girl that was all sunshine and here you are, excited for a rain storm."

"I like the rain." She answered back, leaning in to the embrace as his arms wrapped around her from behind. "It makes everything feel new again and clean. It makes the flowers grow and new life bloom."

"And Calcifer complain." Howl added lightly, breathing in the scent of her hair as he pushed her hat away from her hair and rested his chin on her shoulder. "He'll be at me to move the entire castle…again."

Sophie laughed, as she did more often these days, with free abandon and delight. "I should be worried if he didn't complain."

"You're right." He consented. "He loves the attention."

Her laughter died away, her tone losing its playfulness. "Howl, what's that? Over there?" She moved out his arms, leaning over the balcony to get a better view. In the far distance, but getting closer with each lumbering step of the castle, a white blur made a stark contrast against the muted green of the valley. "Are those people?" She continued, "Out here in the middle of the Wastes? What on earth are they thinking! They could be hurt!"

Wasting no time, she turned back inside, rushing down the stairs to grab her coat.

"Sophie! Wait!" Howl called. "They could be wizards! Or witches! Or worse!" But his calls fell on deaf ears. "Hold up just a second! I'll come with you!"

Without waiting for the castle to completely stop and mentally thanking Calcifer that he was already slowing it down to settle in for the night, Sophie pushed open the entry way door and jumped down to the soft ground below.

"What's going on?" Called her young adopted son, Markl after her. His thoughtful brown eyes regarded her with concern.

"Stay inside!" She called to him as she hitched up the hem of her dress as she took off in a run. "I'll be right back!"

Her feet pounded over the rocky face of the field, one hand holding the ribbon at the base of her neck to keep her hat from flying off. Life had certainly taken some interesting turns in the last few years. She never thought she'd be running across the Wastes to offer assistance to lost travelers.

On some days, usually a lazy Tuesday, inside the warmth of her private room or surrounded by her loved ones, Sophie could lose herself for hours working at a mundane task.

These times, often spent stitching new clothing for Markl, who was starting to grow at a near alarming rate, or tending to the house keeping of which there was never a shortage, Sophie would forget that she lived in a moving castle, powered by a demon. Or that she was married to a wonderfully powerful but endearingly naïve wizard.

Of course, on days like today, which happened to be a Sunday – Sophie would be reminded in the most spectacular way that her life wasn't quite so ordinary.

As she closed in on the pair, she affirmed that it was indeed two people she had spotted from her balcony. She wasn't too shocked to find her husband already there –still dressed in his pink house coat, trying to make non threatening motions towards a younger man, dressed in a… _was that an ice cream uniform?..._ with ridiculously orange hair sticking out in every way, riddled with sticks and little stones through out. In his arms was cradled a woman of the same age, wearing the most outlandish dress Sophie had ever seen.

Yes, it was definitely a Sunday.


	11. The Man Named Gikk

A/N – I thought, oh what the heck, time to write from Gikk's side of things. Little did I know how fun that it was going to be. Hope you enjoy.

~.~

When Gikk first heard the words "castle", he thought of thick brick and echoes, cold endless dark hallways and tattered tapestries. He noted that he had a vast knowledge of what a castle should look and feel like. The usual holes were there in his recollection that left out all the personal but this seemed like it might be important to note for later. _Note to self – possibly a Knight? Or, let us hope not a stable hand._

The room he was told to wait in was not what he had been expecting. It was light and airy. A huge window that afforded a view of the vast valleys beyond took up a generous share of one wall. Long white drapes kissed the golden wood floors, swaying back and forth in the air from an open window. The smell of fresh rain danced deliciously over his skin. Two chairs, very French looking with their plush white cushions and deep set backs beckoned for tea and midday conversation. Even the console table that stood between them had been adorn with a thoughtful yet simple arrangement of wild flowers.

Despite how truly warm and elegant the room was, Gikk quickly learned something about himself. Boredom was new and Gikk found he did not idle well.

On his ninetieth rotation around the room, after he had already busied himself with dismantling the tall lamp that stood at attention in the corner, seeing how far he could lean out the window before he nearly fell and counting how many of the ceiling tiles had faded from their original cream white to a light sun washed yellow – there were eight – Gikk was finally saved from his boredom by the door opening.

"What in the world is that?" Howl asked upon reentering the room.

"Lamp. With a spoon." He supplied, moving to tuck his hands in to his coat. Only the coat had gone the way of his cane and he really hoped they had found a worthy successor. "Maybe a twirly bit of copper. And a recorder."

Howl blinked. "Forget I asked – wait, a recorder? Where did you find – no, no it's better I don't ask."

"Probably best, yes." Gikk agreed readily.

"We need to talk." His host continued.

Gikk considered his tone. It didn't seem very friendly nor overly hostile. His posture suggested he was expecting a confrontation but was trying to appear demure, possibly to avoid provoking a negative response in Gikk. Considering Howl had been nothing but the generous and warm up to this point, he found the sudden tenseness unnerving.

"Do we? Is it about the lamp? I think it's vastly better this way. Well, not in every sense, it doesn't actually _work_ anymore but-"

He was cut off by a sigh that sounded a little like it was trying to cover a laugh, "I meant we need to talk more about you, your friend Haru and what, exactly in the world you two were doing out in the Wastes."

"Ah. I think I'd rather talk about the lamp." Gikk let a smile tug at the edge of his lips and noticed Howl was fighting off a similar response. He was guessing Howl didn't do serious often or at least avoided confrontation where he could.

"Ok, lamp later." He consented. "But I must insist you give me some explanation though. You don't seem like a wicked wizard and I don't think I've ever met someone as clueless about magic as your Haru is."

His heart did an odd seizing thump at the words _your Haru and_ he tried not to be so ridiculously pleased. "So the Wastes you speak of, they are usually the hunting grounds of the evil magic type?"

"Generally. Black magic is extremely illegal under the crown. Ergo, bad guys tend to do their thing out of city limits."

"Makes sense. I could see why you'd question our reason for wandering out there. Believe you me, it was entirely accidental. We're in a bit of a predicament."

Howl chuckled. His words carried an undertone of worry that the laughter didn't erase. "Well at least you know enough to know you are in a _predicament_ but gold to silver, you don't know the half of it."

"That doesn't sound good." That elated feeling Gikk had been enjoying was starting to sink towards his shoes. A wizard that could move an _entire _castle to his whim was likely an expert on magical dealings. Little warnings were going off like popcorn popping in his mind. He adored popcorn. The kind with caramel. There had been some at the soda shoppe. He wished he would have taken a tin for the road... _Focus_.

"Oh trust me, it's not. It's actually very bad. Very very bad."

"Don't sugar coat it for me."

That got a full laugh and some of that lightness returned to Howl's voice. Gikk was right, he _didn't_ do serious well. "Look, I'm not trying to be omonious but you're a mystery to me. You're powerful, very powerful but you have about as much knowledge about magic as that lamp you took apart. I don't know where to start. I look at you and all I see is disaster waiting to strike."

There was a long silence. Gikk was suddenly worried that Howl was going to leave him alone again in the room. If that happened, it was likely there would be some dire consequences. There wasn't another lamp to take his idle time out on.

Instead, "Are you hungry? Sophie made some hot cakes this morning. They're simply amazing, the best anywhere."

"Oh yes please." Gikk said with a rush of real gratitude. He wasn't sure if all humans felt so hungry but he was famished most of the time.

Howl motioned that Gikk should follow and he did, gladly. A moving castle was so very intriguing.

When they had been seated, each with a cup of tea and a healthy stack of hot cakes, Gikk politely resumed the conversation. "You were going off about disaters and foreboding warnings of doom?"

"Indeed." Howl answered as he lifted his cup for a sip. "First, something you should know. I lost my heart at a young age. Sophie helped return it to me and I've been relearning how to deal with the extremes of emotion ever since. I feel it's only fair you know what I've been through so you can believe me when I say I know where you're coming from."

Gikk placed his silverware down. "You lost your heart?" He repeated. "Makes losing one's memories seem trivial."

Howl shook his head, sending the rings in his ears chiming as he returned his cup to the saucer. "No, not at all. Compared to you, I was lucky." His face grew grave. "I'm sorry about leaving you in the guest room like I did. I needed to check a few things. I wanted to get more facts before approaching you but I get the feeling there's no point in dancing around the issue." Voice low, thoughtful eyes regarding every feature on Gikk's face, Howl continued. "How well do you know the woman you travel with? Do you trust her?"

Without missing a beat, Gikk matched Howl's stare. "Yes."

"Yep that's going to complicate things. I was hoping I could drop her off in town and set about trying to fix you but." Howl sighed as he leaned far back in his chair, tucking his hands behind his head. "You're what is known as a 'Nameless'. It's a despicable practice carried out by the weak and the lazy. Suliman outlawed it years and years ago and that was probably the only good thing she's ever done. Oh! That reminds me! Come on."

Howl pushed away from the table and jogged up the stairs, not bothering to see if Gikk was behind him. Scrambling to follow, the young man in the pink shirt raced up the stairs. To his credit, he only cast one longing look back at the stack of untouched hot cakes.

The room they entered didn't look like it should be in the same place as the rest of the castle. For one thing, it was a mess. Compared to the near immaculate state of the rest of the home, it was like opening a door and finding a junk yard tucked away in the back room.

There must have been order to that chaos because Howl moved with purpose through the piles, picking up; two feathers, a bit of twisted wire, a playing card with a torn corner, a roll of twine and an amber colored stone that seemed to be filled with liquid and light.

Gikk watched, shifting his weight from foot to foot. Hot cakes gone, but not quite forgotten, the hunger was quickly replaced by a driving curiosity. He _desperately_ wanted to go explore the room and it's oddities. His desire to be a good guest stopped him from digging in the room outright but not from poking at a few of the more eye catching eccentricities within reach.

"We don't want Suliman catching wind of you." Howl called out from between his spot between a twisted hat rack and a rack of chemistry bottles. "If she finds out there's a Nameless around here, she'll send her henchmen to collect you."

"That would be bad?" Gikk called back, absently rolling a marble with a crack in it's face back and forth across the tarnished table. There was a green glowing thing in the far corner that looked like it might need some attention. He wanted to be the one to give it attention. Without really thinking, his feet shuffled slowly in that direction.

"Beyond bad. She'd snatch you up for herself and throw your friend Haru in jail as quickly as she could and the King would let her do it too. She has free range over all the magic in the kingdom. She's playing some grand game and I want nothing to do with it or her."

The marble stopped it's motion, halted under one of Gikk's fingers. He felt a heaviness settle in his chest. "Why would she put Haru in jail? She's nothing to do with what's happen to me."

"You sure of that?" Howl asked. He had stopped his foraging and looked over at him with plain disbelief.

"On my life." Gikk answered. "That's the second time you've questioned her motives. What reason have you to believe she isn't what she claims - my friend?"

"You and her, together it looks bad." Howl made a motion with his hands and turned back to the pile he was digging in, continuing, "Any magic user is going to come to the same conclusion. You reek of portal magic but are wearing no protection charms. Either you're both victims of your own ignorance or she's purposely leading you from world to world."

That heaviness in his heart started to sink towards his heels. "Why would it matter?"

Howl sighed. "See, after talking with you and Haru, I know she's not the one that turned you in to a Nameless nor does she know the person that did. You seem genuine in your friendship so I know she's not purposely harming you. Here, hold your breath."

Gikk hardly had time to close his mouth before Howl tossed a handful of gritty dust over him.

"That should protect you if you decide to leave the castle, at least for awhile."

Unable to hold back a cough, his mouth filled with a horridly bitter flavor. He had accidentally inhaled a bit of window cleaner at the soda shop and that had been pleasant in comparison. "Good graces what was that?" He choked out.

Smiling with pride, Howl answered, "My personal blend. It'll block your magical signature and stop other wizards from honing in on the fact you're a Nameless. I know, I'm a genius. It happens." He turned and in the same practiced movements started putting things away. Or tossing them back in to random piles as the case may be.

Fighting back a racking cough, eyes watering and throat burning, Gikk waved a hand in front of him to try and clear the terrible dust from the air. "Please don't do that again. You said Haru was doing me harm by us traveling from world to world – what harm was done?"

~.~

Later, the two men where sitting again at the table in silence that was interrupted only by the cracking from the large fireplace in the center of the room or a the occasional sound of a page being turned.

The stack of hot cakes, cold cakes now, he reasoned, was sitting in front of him, untouched.

Howl was busy looking over a book thicker than Gikks waist and Gikk, well Gikk didn't know what to say for the first time in his remembered life. There wasn't anything left to say, other than the first thing to pop into his mind.

"Don't tell Haru."

Howl looked up from his study.

"Don't." He repeated firmly. There wasn't a lot he knew but this he was dead sure of. "She's kind hearted. She'll blame herself even though she's innocent in the whole affair. This knowledge in no way changes my goals. I need to get her home, safely and quickly."

Looking like he was about to objected, Howl was cut off by laughter.

Startled, Gikk was up out of his chair and reaching to his side for his cane – which had been lost at the ice cream shop – when the laughter faded in to a warm voice.

"He doesn't want to promise that because then he'll have to keep it from Sophie and she _always_ knows when Howl is keeping something from her. He's a horrid liar these days. Isn't that right, Howl?"

Gikk looked around the room, searching for the speaker. Howl rolled his eyes and tilted his head towards the fireplace. Or rather eyes in towards the _eyes_ in the fire, sparkling with mischief.

"What, what is that?" Gikk asked, finding himself moving closer to the fire, with his usual lack of self preservation.

Howl chuckled. "That's an old friend. Sorry I forgot to introduce him earlier."

"Everyone always overlooks me." The fire complained, rather dramatically in Gikk's opinion. "It's not like I'm important or anything. Just keep this entire castle moving and safe, that's all."

The chuckle from Howl turned in to a full belly laugh. "This is Calisfer. He's our dearest friend and an extremely powerful fire spirit."

Glancing from Howl to the fire pit, Gikk did what he considered to be his natural reaction when he was confronted with things of a magical nature. He let his vision slip to that _other_ place in his mind, the one that felt wild and free. Instantly, the smell of pine and earth filled his nose. Now when he looked in the fireplace, he could see it was no flame at all. It was a beautiful light with thin limbs and a burning halo around it's head that he had mistaken for a fire's flame.

The sheer amount of magic surrounding the spirit made the room seem to crackle. Gikk looked around, watching the strands of magic spread out like thin strands of a spider's web, covering every surface of the castle. It looked like it was infusing it with the strange light Calsifer cast, breathing life in to it.

"Oh, you shouldn't do that." Calcifer said, drawing Gikk's attention back to the spirit himself. All dramatics were gone from his tone. The spirit edged closer to him, it's eye-less head tilting up to regard Gikk's face. "You really shouldn't do that. It's dangerous it be in both places at once without protective charms, even for a wizard. Hey Howl!"

Before Gikk could turn, he felt a strong grip on his shoulder and instantly, his vision swam. A blink later and he was back in the same room, staring too closely at a fire that had eyes and a mouth.

From behind him came a kind but stern voice. "Calcifer is right. Controls and bounties need to be set in place. Wild magic tends to like to run a muck without direction which, while fun, can lead to a lot of unpleasant side effects."

Gikk considered for a moment. "Like what is happening to me because Haru and I jumped from world to world?"

There was a long pause, Howl's voice was soft when he answered. "Just like that, yes. With proper training, you can learn to use your magic without damaging yourself or others. I don't know about your world but we have laws that forbid magic users from going without training. Granted, Sauliman twisted that law to bind all wizards and witches in to service to the crown, but the intention behind the law is still practical."

Blinking a few times, Gikk ran a hand through his unruly hair. The beginnings of a headache were nipping at his temples. "Good rule." He commented flatly.

"Isn't it though?"

"Didn't save you from losing your heart." He pointed out, mainly to see if that smug expression Howl was wearing would stay. It did, in fact, he smiled.

"I was a terrible student. Too bright, too gifted, too hungry. Suliman tried to taper that by appointing me her successor. She thought I was motivated by power, like she is. That, was a terrible miscalculation on her part."

Still rubbing his head, Gikk wandered back over to his chair and sat down. There was a lot to take in. He wondered how he was going to take all that information. Was he going to get upset? He didn't feel upset. He did feel hungry. He took the cold cakes to task, clearing the plate. Sophie was an excellent cook after all. Nope, he didn't feel anger or upset. He _did_ feel a dull loss for what had been taken from him but in the end -

"This changes nothing. We get Haru home safely."

Howl nodded in approval. "I understand. After though?"

Gikk looked around at the castle. At all the possibilities that had suddenly been open to him. "Let's deal with it when it comes."


	12. Simple Chat

The town was warm and sunny, tucked away at the base of tall rolling hills that gave way to towering mountains.

It was almost too warm for the light jumper Sophie had given her but when the breeze blew from the west, carrying the scent of pine and rain and snow, Haru was glad for the extra protection.

"It sure is windy here!" Haru called to her companion as they walked across the busy cobblestone street. "Must be coming off the mountains."

Sophie spared a second to shoot her a warm smile, her hand holding the brim of her hat. "I know! It's marvelous, isn't it? I love it! I had never seen the mountains before I met Howl. He's shown me so much of the world." Beaming, Sophie grabbed Haru's free hand and tugged her towards a cafe with huge windows that afforded a view of the busy town streets.

Once they had settled across from each other, Sophie carefully took of her hat and before looking at Haru expectantly. "We have some time before Mykile returns with the fabric I ordered. So tell me everything! How did you end up traveling through the Wastes with a.." She glanced around the empty cafe and lowered her voice, "..with Gikk?"

"Long story." Haru answered, putting a healthy amount of emphasis on the 'o' in 'long'. It didn't take much urging for her to launch in to the epic retelling of their adventures together.

By the time Haru finished, both women were laughing and exchanges stories in companionable tones. Occasionally one would pause to nibble at the crumb cake they shared or sip the green tea they had ordered, but mostly the time was passed chatting.

"Haru!" Sophie said finally, once the cake was gone and the tea grown cold, "You are just what I needed! It's been ages since I've had someone to chat with! It's not the same with Howl, you know. Can't quite gush on about your own adventures to the man you're having them with."

"I know exactly what you mean! I was just thinking the same thing!"

Smiling, Sophie placed a few notes on the table. "We should be going, I can see our young escort struggling his way across the street with my yards of fabric. It wouldn't do to keep him waiting."

~.~

Once they arrived back at the castle, hidden as much as it could be in the mists of the mountains, Haru insisted on helping Sophie clean up the kitchen and prepare dinner.

The men were absent from the lower level of the house. They had excused themselves to the upstairs after greeting the women on their return home. All was silent and comfortable, Haru and Sophie cooking and carrying on in the kitchen and the wizards doing whatever it was wizards did.

All was going pleasantly well until a loud explosion rocked the castle. Haru about had a heart attack, but Sophie didn't even pause at her task of kneading bread. She simply smiled with a light sigh. "Not again."

A light green smoke had started to trail down the stairs. Haru paused in her mad dash of rushing up to save Gikk when she noticed Sophie didn't seem phased by the loud explosion. "Shouldn't we see if they're ok?"

From where she was standing, Haru heard a familiar voice cry out, clearly shocked - 

"_Of course it's suppose to be orange!"_

"_...are you sure? That happened to me once after Sophie went fiddling with my potions. I can fix it."_

"_Oh no you don't! Did you not see what happened to that house plant? Get away from me with that!"_

"_I'm sure I've got it _this _time!"_

"Best to leave them to their own devices." Sophie said, a smudge of flour racing across her cheek as she wiped it with her hand. "Howl can go off for hours experimenting like that. He never got to finish his formal education in magic and the entire experience of being self taught is an ongoing game for him.

I can't imagine how delightful it must to have another wizard to work with finally. Myikl won't go near him when he's like that. Not since the incident with the hat box."

Haru blinked, "Hat box?"

Sophie shook her head, digging her hands back in to the pale dough. "Best you left that alone too." Sheanswered with a knowing smile.

Haru looked back up the stairs. The green smoke had settled around the top flight. She might have been imagining it but no, she was pretty sure the floor was starting to grow a bright pink moss now.

So she took Sophie's advice to heart and went back to the kitchen to help her finish up dinner.

The next time an explosion went off, this time with chimes that sounded like a ring tone gone sour and a decidedly pink smoke trail, Haru laughed right along with Sophie.

"_I said it was supposed to be ORANGE!"_

The crazy part was, this was starting to feel normal, boarding on feeling like home.


	13. Best Laid Plans

Three days later, Howl and Gikk had coming running down the stairs with matching grins. It said a lot about Sophie and Haru that those smiles – those simply, wonderful smiles – both the two women on high alert. When the men were smiling like that, it meant exciting things were coming.

Turned out Howl and Gikk had been working on creating a portal to send Haru and Gikk home.

Among other things.

"Gikk, that's wonderful! That really is.. but what is _that ?_" Haru asked, as a tiny black _hairball_? the size of a golf ball peeked over Gikk's shoulder. It was little more than a huge set of eyes.

"Oh this? Howl calls it a 'soot spirit.'

"_Sprite_." Howl corrected. "Your Gikk is a quick learner. He got it right in one-"

A sound like brakes grinding cut through the air as a decidedly _not_ soot sprite climbed up Gikk's other shoulder. It was a little larger than the other and was a muted gray, with mouse ears and a lazy eye.

"One and a half." Howl ammended. "I still can't figure out why it makes that terrible noise."

"Character." Gikk shrugged. "Anyway, we have brillant news! Haru, Howl has found a way to send us home! It's all very complicated but he managed to create a portal that should send us right back!"

This was the news Haru had been waiting for. Over the last two weeks, living in the Castle, she had started to forget that it was temporary. "That's wonderful!" She exclamined, hugging Gikk tightly. The lazy eye soot sprite used the chance to jump on to her shoulder and snuggle itself under a lock of her hair.

The path down to the portal was tickled with weeds and long stemmed poppies that swayed back and forth in the warm spring air.

With a deep sigh, Haru broke the silence. "I'm kind of sad to be leaving. I think I'm going to miss all the excitement ofbeing here, of travelling from world to world with you."

Gikk smiled and did something he had never done before. He reached down and took her hand, not to run or to pull her out of harm's way, but just to hold. "It has been rather exciting."

Nodding, Haru looked wistfully over her shoulder. The large castle had settled down among the boulders of the Wastes. On the upper patio, she could see Howl and Sophie waving their goodbyes to them. She felt a brief tug of worry and wondered if she'd ever see her new friends again.

"I bet you're excited." She said, smiling at Gikk to try and ease over her own unease. "As soon as we get back, we'll ask Muta and Toto what you're name is! I'm sure they'll remember."

He arched an eyebrow in question and Haru had to laugh. "You'll remember them when you see them! Those two are unforgettable! Oh." She thought suddenly, her smile falling. "I don't think you'll fit in the Cat Bureau anymore. It's ok though, once I explain everything to mom…" That thought skidded to a stop. She tried to picture exactly how that conversation would go. Even with her impressive imagination, she couldn't see a way it didn't end poorly.

With a wave of her hand, she dismissed it. "Oh well, we can worry about it when we get there!"

Gikk said nothing, just smiled and looked away.

The portal was a round circle of stout white mushrooms with bright red dots on their caps. Of all the portals Haru had traveled through so far, this one that Howl had created to take them home was the only one that seemed to fit her story book idea of what magic should look like.

"Nice job, Howl." She whispered. One step in to the ring was all it would take and they'd be home again. The final chapter of their travels was coming to a close.

"Ready?" Haru asked, stepping towards the circle.

Gikk stopped suddenly, his hand slipping out of hers.

"Gikk?" She asked hesitantly.

"I'm sorry Haru," Came his softly accented admission, "I can't go with you."

The words struck her around the chest, settled in her lungs and stole her breath.

He nervously ran a hand through his hair, glancing at her before looking to the ground and sighing. "Memories are tricky things, turns out." He thought back to his conversation with Howl his first day at the castle…

~.~

In Howl's potion room, Gikk fought back a racking cough, his eyes stinging from the magic dust his new friend had just thrown all over him. "Please don't do that again." He said, trying to wave the foul stuff away from his face. "You said Haru was doing me harm by us traveling from world to world – what harm was done."

Howl stopped his rush to put his ingredients away, thoughtfully considering a bottle he was holding. "Memories are a tricky thing, Gikk and true names are even worse." He slid the bottle back on to a shelf and sighed. "Let's say you're an evil wizard and you've managed to gain the true name of an equally powerful wizard. Say you seal it away and take from him all his memories of who he was. The trick is leaving all the memories of what he potentially _could be_. Take away everything and you're left with an empty shell that can't speak let alone do your dirty work."

Howl moved past Gikk, motioning he should follow as he made his way back down to the kitchen. "But take away his all his memories of who he was and should be, well, he's easier to control. You can reshape him in to your perfect servant. Except for the one thing that's pretty hard to remove." He looked pointedly at Gikk.

"He knows he's missing his name?" The man with the orange hair hazarded. "He can tell something's missing."

"Exactly!" Howl said, smacking the top of the table. "Now what stops this formerly powerful wizard from learning a few portal spells and leaving to search for his true name? Absolutely nothing! And all that evil energy is wasted because your Nameless runs off the first chance he gets – except there's a catch.

Rule number one to being a wizard Gikk – there is _always_ a catch. Remember that. If any one tries to sell you duty free magic, it's rubbish. Now where was I?" Howl's eyes were shinning with way too much excitement. It was very clear the wizard enjoyed his role as mentor.

"The spell that binds the memories of the Nameless's true name is extremely delicate on purpose. Think spun sugar holding together a string of marbles. Or if you prefer something less sweet-"

"Sweet is fine." Gikk interrupted as he sat down heavily in to his seat. He was quick enough to see where this conversation was leading. The thought of it was sending his stomach uncomfortably up his throat.

Howl's voice lowered, losing a bit of his lecturing tone. "The only way for a Nameless to travel safely through the worlds is with a protection Charm from their Master or Mistress. Take one step through a portal without one and it shatters the memories."

"I think I'm going to be ill." Gikk said, feeling like the room was starting to spin uncomfortably. "What you're saying is…"

"It wouldn't matter if you and Haru discovered your true name right now. It was already too late after your first jump. You'd probably get some of it back, echoes of who you were. Snippets, dreams – dreams are a different study in identity... But each time you traveled through a portal, more and more of that got silenced and if you keep going, pretty soon, all that's left is what you are right now."

The hot cakes in front of him didn't look so inviting anymore.

"I have a book on it." Howl declared uncomfortably. "I'll go grab it."

In the silence, Gikk rethought about his travels with Haru and one thing kept repeating in his head, over and over. As soon as Howl had resettled at the table with a book three times larger than it had any right to be, all Gikk could think to say was;

"Don't tell Haru…"

~.~

Back at the portal, a cloud slid over the sun, throwing the pair in to a shadow.

Gikk turned to Haru earnestly. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner Haru. I didn't want you to blame yourself. But it's not all bad!" He started, trying to feel cheerful. "Howl says there's hope that he can reverse a bit of the damage! He's even offered to take me on as his apprentice until we get it sorted. I'll be right as rain in no time, mostly. So don't you dare go feeling guilty."

The hug was so unexpected; he nearly lost his footing as Haru threw herself in to his arms. Face buried in his chest, her words came as a rush. "You are such an idiot! I'll stay with you! How could you even think I'd let you do this alone?"

All the ways he had seen this converstation going, he never imagined it going this way and Gikk felt thunderstruck by those simple words.

"You'd do that, for me?" Gikk answered, resting a hand uncertainly on the back of her head. "I'll never be _him_ again, you know. I'll never remember all of it. I'm always going to be a bit…" He chuckled, "Exciting."

Haru pulled her head back and looked up at him with eyes shining a bit too brightly. "It's ok! I like exciting! We'll figure it out together! I'll stay here with you and then we can figure everything else out after that! The important thing is we stick together! That when it's all over, we go home _together_."

"You are brilliant, you know that?" He said softly, looking at her with as much respect as his green eyes could hold. "I would like that, I think. Us – together, makes a lot of sense. But Haru, it will be dangerous. More dangerous than you can imagine now."

"I don't care." She insisted. "I'll be here, safe with you and even if there's bad things coming, I can't imagine a better place to be than at your side. Plus a lot of seniors go abroad after graduation. Think of it like an extended study session and I'll see way more than they ever will."

Gikk smiled, he looked like he was glowing. He might have been. Wizard and all. "It'll be dangerous." He repeated, watching her reaction, "Howl says this world is constantly at war. The peace can't seem to stick more than a few years."

"Sophie says that's buisness as usual when more than half the countries have wizards as advisors." Haru countered.

"There will be a lot of running."

"I'm getting better at it."

Gikk laughed, giving her another quick embrace. "Thank you, really Haru." He smiled at her, his head moving down towards her. "You made me feel... real."

In an impossible moment his lips drew towards hers, brushing them with the softest warmth.

Over the pounding of her heart, she almost missed it when he whispered against her lips. "Thank you, Haru."

And with a light motion of his hands, pushed her backwards in to the ring of mushrooms.

She didn't stumble, she _flew._ The ground was there one second and the next, it was gone, tunneling down in to darkness all around her. Above, a distant spec fading every second faster and further, was the orange haired man. _Her_ orange haired man.

"You jerk!" She screamed in to the rising vortex. "You aren't alone! I won't let you do this alone!"

Then the darkness swallowed her.

~.~

The first thought she had upon waking was - she was going to kill that orange haired wizard _when_ she saw him again. Haru was going to see him again. In fact, he had just made the single greatest mistake of his life. Well, this was taking a short second to the time he had thought he could pull off Howl's purple cape with his orange hair but that wasn't the point!

The point was as soon as Haru shook off this horrible feeling of jet lag, she was going to march her way across the worlds and right back to his side. And then she was going to beat him, oh the beatings. After that she was going to hug him and never let him go.

But first, the beatings.

Haru struggled up on to her elbows, shaking her head to try and rid the clouds from her vision. This hadn't been like the last few times they had jumped between worlds. This time she felt positively ill.

If she had to compare it to something, it was like fitting a square peg in a round hole, only she was the peg and why in the world did everything feel so _wrong?_

She took stock of herself. Everything looked right. No extra arms, no strange coloring. Once she managed to sit up right, Haru was shocked to find herself in a room, in a bed actually. That had never happened before.

It clearly wasn't her bed. The room was a cheerful yellow and pretty bare. Beside the bed, there was a dresser and a throw rug by the door. No hint of who might live there... or what.

"That's new." She said. Haru pushed off the bed, trying to be quiet as she snuck out the room and down the stairs. The house was entirely silent and still.

When she reached the bottom of the stairs, she glanced around and nearly had a heartattack.

"You have got to be kidding me!" Without wasting another minute, she rushed out the familiar door. Once she started running, she couldn't stop. Panic was building and building and all she wanted to do was make it under the arch and see if the world would magically right itself.

Only once she cleared the courtyard and made it back to the streets of her hometown, she didn't magically start growing again. Nothing changed.

"Oh no oh no!" Haru gasped, quickly double checking that her hands were still human – thankfully they were. "What is going on here!" She screamed. Down the alleyway, she could see the street she had walked down countless times to school.

Only now it was giants walking that street. Driving cars the size of buildings. Steering bikes that had wheels thicker than her entire body.

"Oh this is not happening. Not happening! I'm going to kill them. I am." It was clear that something had gone all shades of wrong with the portal.

"Hey you!" A voice called to her. Haru spun to see a young man wearing earth tone clothing and carrying a oversized safety pin waving to her frantically. "Come on, move! You're going to be seen!" He continued motioning, the fear very real on his face.

With a deep sigh, Haru drew up her reserves of strength, rolled her eyes and starting walking towards the man. Because why not? This was pretty much business as usual anymore.


	14. Safari

The sun rise found the lone wizard's apprentice sitting in the middle of a field that was filled with green and blue flowers. It smelled like rain and early morning dew and that seemed oddly fitting for the ache in his chest. The sunlight that fell across his lap was just as warm as he remembered it being yesterday. The flowers as vibrant - bejeweled with dew and that faint glow of magic _Yipper_ flowers held at their core. All of it seemed to bounce off his surface – the sights, the smells, the warmth; nothing could touch the dull ache that had taken up residence in his chest. Gikk was missing a vital part in himself due in equal parts to the magic that bounded him to Haru and the absence of her lively company. What really was the point, after all, of having such brilliant adventures if there was no one there to notice him being quite clever?

Far away, growling like thunder, chainsaws screamed to life, biting in to the trunks of ancient trees. Howl had explained vaguely that the South Kingdom considered this place to be beautiful and magical. Apparently that was all the justification the Eastern Kingdom needed to try and recklessly extend its boarders south. A curse or a spited lover was likely the root cause but war would come all the same. Nothing was ever straightforward in this world of wizards and witches.

In the meantime, Gikk tilted his head back, breathing deeply the smell of exhaust and burning timber. It should have been a vindication. He _had_ to send her away. Better this way, of course. At least she was safe, not wrapped up in this nasty business.

A loud clap from behind drew him from his thoughts. He turned to see Howl come sprinting across the field towards him.

"South isn't a good choice, probably not for a long time." His master and friend commented once he was in range. "We'll head north, skirting the Wastes for now."

The man with the orange hair stood up, casting a forlorn glance back at the majestic forest. "We aren't helping, then?"

"No." Howl said plainly. "We aren't getting dragged in to another war. Not ever again. Our only goal is keeping our family safe and if that means running and hiding, I'm not too good to be a coward."

A series of explosions cracked through the morning air, followed by a distant stream of curses and screams. Small billows of black smoke drifted up over the tree line.

Gikk raised an eyebrow, regarding Howl, who shrugged innocently.

"So I may have enchanted the trees a little."

A fresh batch of screams cut the air as several air engines were frantically rev'ed to life.

"And maybe the squirrels." Howl consented.

The men stood side by side, watching as the air bikes rose in to the trees. Even from this distance, Gikk could see the pilots were covered in dozen of angry, waging tails. One of the harassed lumberjacks must have noticed his audience because he started signaling wildly towards Howl and Gikk from the back of his bike. Several of the machines cut off from the pack and started flying towards them, dropping squirrels all the way.

"We should probably run now."

Gikk gave an 'hmph' of agreement and the pair dashed off towards the thick wooded area was the castle was invisibly waiting for them.

~.~

"I'm going to kill him." Haru said earnestly, faced turned up to the sky. It was this perfect, cloudless blue day and singing with a warm spring breeze that promised new green life and rain. The weather had no right to be this _perfect_ when inside her heart was fuming.

Three days – three days since he ditched her, acting like the chivalrous idiot he was. And it wasn't even that he didn't get it right and she was now the size of a child's toy – it was that he finally, finally _kissed_ her before sending her away. The shrinking, the being stuck at the Sanctuary in the company of the odd little people called 'Borrowers', all that she could forgive because that was par for course. But the aching longing in her lips, that faint haunting warmth when she remembered being tucked close to him in a moment of unguarded intimacy…

"So dead." She huffed in growing frustration.

The few Borrowers milling around the center of the small town in the early hours didn't pay her much mind. They had quickly grown accustomed to the oddly dress woman who had a habit of cursing empty air. It had taken Haru considerably longer to get accustomed to _them._

Her shock of finding the usually empty town that housed the Cat's Bureau filled with a city's worth of tiny people had left her speechless.

The young man who had lead her back in to the safety of the city had directed her towards the house the elder lived in – whoever that was- and left her with the caution not to be so careless. She could have been _seen_, which seemed to be the highest order of recklessness.

With no real other options, Haru had made her way to the elder like she was in a dream, stopping to stare often at the crowds. It was so otherworldly. This once familiar place now a busy market where children wearing bright clothing dashed around laughing and woman wearing giant barrettes in their hair chatted. Vendors all over sold doll house furniture and offered up food clearly 'borrowed' from nearby houses.

By the time she got to the small white house with the green door, she had collected a group of people who were curious about the woman who looked so different and who smelled like magic and the wilds.

The elder had been exactly what Haru supposed an 'elder' would look like. He wore tiny half-moon glasses and had a head of untamed white hair. With a shooing motion to the crowd that had gathered, he pulled Haru inside and shut his door.

What followed was one of the most pleasant and strangest conversations Haru had heard in a long time.

The elder's voice was light and he knew how to hold a conversation. Where had she come from? What _was _she? These probing questions had been asked with a kind and tender understanding. It was clear he was used to all kinds and had heard his fair share of outlandish stories.

It came so easy and in the rhythm of the conversation, Haru explained how her wonderful but stupid best friend had used a pocket watch to whisk her away back home but not. The entire time he nodded. As if magical mishaps were common and something he had to address every day. In return, he explained where she was.

The world used to be a lot bigger, he said. Room enough for everyone and all the magic a billion different races could dream up. But humans came and they turned out to be much bigger than most things.

As the number of the little people had dwindled over the years, they banded together to build a place of magic and safety for things that didn't have a place in the human world anymore. They called this wondrous city 'The Sanctuary' and it truly came to be.

How odd it was that Haru had never stopped to consider why the Creations had an entire city to live in, one filled with houses and fountains and shops. She guessed that because she had never seen anyone else, it had never crossed her mind.

"And so," The elder finished, as he poured her another earthy smelling cup of tea, "We've been here ever since, living in peace and prosperity alongside all the others, like your Creation friends."

Haru had asked why she had never seen anyone on her rare visit under the arches and he simply smiled, eyes sparkling and answered; "We're very good at hiding."

He invited her to stay in the community, living of course at Gikk's former house. With her being as she was, she was as good as a Borrower anyway and would have full access to the village and its protection magic's.

That was three days ago.

The shock had faded like a tide and it left a watermark of loss and determination as long as the shoreline and three times as pressing. Because there was something Gikk hadn't understood when he sent her away.

She'd find a way back. Didn't matter how many worlds she had to search because at the end of it all, he needed her and she needed him. Some things in life are just that impossibly simple. He had planted in her a seed of wild daring and it was about to surprise him as it bloomed in triplicate.

"Miss Haru!" Came a light voice from down the square. A plump, young girl of thirteen came running up to her, hair pulled in to bouncing pigtails. Haru looked up from her post at Toto's fountain. She spent every free moment at the fountain, constantly watching the empty perch and wondering when the crow would return. Maybe he had gone looking for them. If that was the case, he would be searching for a very long time.

"Miss Haru." The girl said again, sucking in to try and catch her breath. Her face was flushed and it was clear from the sweat on her forehead that she had been running for longer than she was used to. "Miss Haru," She tried again, swallowing thickly.

"It's ok, Pip." Haru hushed, getting up from the fountain ledge to lay a reassuring hand on the girl's shoulder. "Give yourself a second."

Pip shook her head stubbornly, sending a pigtail smack across Haru's concerned face. "It's about the spirit coin you gave the Elder."

Haru felt her heart rate increase. All she had left connecting her to the far away world Gikk was stuck in had been the clothing she was wearing when she arrived and the spirit coin she had tucked away in her pocket. All her hopes were riding on finding someone that could create a portal back.

"What did he say?" She urged.

"He says you should come see him."

"Thank you, Pip!" Haru called, instantly ready to do some running herself. Her feet pounded across the cobblestone pavement as she dodged pedestrians and carts with equal speed. To her credit, she only tripped up once, skinning her knee on a rough patch of gravel. By the time she reached the white house with the green door, she hardly looked better than Pip had, gasping and limping as she was.

The elder opened the door as she approached, looking aghast. "My goodness, Haru! Are you ok?" He asked, throwing the door open to help her in.

"Knee. Happens. Clumsy." She muttered between breaths. How was she still out of shape with all the running she had been doing? Maybe the altitude was different in this world, less oxygen, something.

"Well come in child, I'll get some tea and a cloth for that knee."

Haru could only nod as she was lead over to an overfilled, floral patterned couch that must have belonged to an elegant doll house at one point. She stiffly leaned up against the cushions, shaking a head at her knee and her uncoordinated feet.

"Looks like quite a fall."

Haru started. She hadn't noticed the woman sitting in the chair across the way, sipping from tea from a thimble. How Haru missed her, with all that red hair, was beyond her.

"Yeah, I was in a rush, not really looking." She said, folding her hands in her lap and tugging at her skirt to try and cover the scrape.

The woman smiled. "You must be Haru. I'm Lisa, Isao told me all about you. That's quite a fantastic story."

"Not so fantastic." She responded flatly. "I need to get back to my friend before I consider anything about it fantastic."

"Oh?" The woman, Lisa exclaimed, raising her eyebrows. "But isn't your home here? This is the world you came from, correct?"

"Well, yeah." She sighed, "For the most part, if you ignore the six-inch tall oversight."

"Is that what's bothering you?" Lisa sat her thimble down and regarded Haru with big blue eyes. "That can be fixed. That spirit coin of yours has more than enough magic in it to get you the right size in no time."

Haru bit her lip, sucking it in her mouth to stop herself from speaking the first thing that came to mind. The truth was, she knew the right answer was to find a way back to her mother and to pick up the life she was detoured from. Or if the 'right' answer could feel so wrong, that was it.

"But that isn't what you want, is it?" The red headed woman must have been able to read Haru's hesitation at the suggestion. "You want to get back to your friend more than you want to go home."

Not trusting herself with words, Haru gave a tight nod. "I know how that must make me sound. I'm the worst daughter in the world."

"My mom was the same way, you know. She had to choose between staying with her family and giving up her entire world to stay with the boy she loved. That didn't make her a bad daughter or sister. Your heart will always guide you down the right path, if you let it."

The Elder Isao came in, holding a washrag in his hand. "Sorry that took so long, no idea where the wife keeps the good linen. Now, hold this on to keep down the swelling." His eyes moved between Haru and Lisa. "You two been chatting have you? That's good. Haru, this is Lisa. She's a regular visitor to the Sanctuary. In fact, it's her magic that helps keep this place safe and hidden. Old magic, good magic, straight from the sea it is." He shot Lisa a proud smile as he pulled up an old pin cushion to sit on. "I think she might be the one that could put that spirit coin of yours to use." He added.

"Really?" Haru asked, dropping the cloth in her excitement. "Can you use it to get me back to Gikk? To the world he's in?"

Lisa sat thoughtfully for a moment, the sun catching her red hair in such a way it made it seem like it was shimmering in waves. "If that's what your heart is truly telling you, then yes, I can."

"Yes!" Haru shot up from the couch, and then quickly dropped back, grabbing her abused knee with a grown.

"But," Lisa continued, with a frown, "A choice once made always carries a price. If you want to leave this world behind and pursue your friend, it will cost you."

~.~

A/N ah yes, the cliffie bwahaha. I dedicate this chapter, in its entire crazy climax setting goodness to Catsafari. If it wasn't for your kind and thoughtful nudge in my inbox, this would have probably stayed in limbo forever.

I have one chapter left after this one and a curtain call before this journey ends. Wouldn't have got there without the continued support of the awesome few.


	15. The End

"Are you sure?"

Without hesitation. "Very."

"This will cost you the one thing you hold the dearest. Once lost, I fear you will never regain it."

"I can't leave him there alone. We started this journey together; I will always feel incomplete if we don't end it together."

"As you wish."

~.~

The snow fell in heavy, fat flakes. Swirling in the chilled winds and dancing over the frosted tops of the pine trees. All was silent in the winter woods, aside from the occasional _crack_ when a lighter bough gave in to the weight of the never ending snow fall and came crashing in to forest floor.

Sharp green eyes rose to consider the sky line in the distance. Over several miles away, the trees gradually gave way, on one side to undemanding foothills and on the other, the beginnings of famous Sparkling Peaks. Mountains so high their tops could only be seen from above the clouds.

And over it all, in the peace of snowfall and nature, Gikk couldn't shake the feeling of dread. Not to be mistaken for the feeling of Emptiness. _That_ feeling was forever and didn't fade or lessen. It came to live with him on that day he said goodbye to his dearest friend, in the field of flowers. Howl tried to reassure him that all Nameless felt that ache if divided from the one that named them. But Gikk knew. He really did. It didn't take the thirty years of training in magic he had completed to know the difference between the sting of magic and the empty longings of a broken heart.

It had been for the best, he reminded himself, again. All he had to do was look out over the Winter Woods he now stood in, the very woods that were faced with the real danger of warfare, to know she was far better off in her home world.

Of course she was.

From the snow filled skies, an overweight and black flake danced its way towards him. As it drew closer to his outstretched hand, Gikk could see it was indeed his soot sprite, the oversized black eyes watching him with a decidedly nervous air.

"Nameless Master!" The small one squeaked as it settled in to his palm. "It is as you feared, from the East they come, with their machines and Sky Burners. Howl hinders them but he has had no luck altering their course."

Gikk nodded, sighing. "I thought as much. This is the most direct route through to the Autumn City. And Sophie? How goes her talks with the assembly?"

The Sprite gave a huff, sending its small form shaking. "Ambassador Sophie is not heard. They care little for the Treatises of the Wizards. They see only a forest that stands between them and their rival; they care nothing for the magic that flows here."

"Also as I thought." Gikk gently placed the sprite on his shoulder, freeing his hands as he dropped to his knees and began shoving aside mounds of snow and forest mulch to get to the hard, frozen ground below.

"Nameless Master, the Kodama are restless and the tree spirits are getting angered. They do not wish to be involved in the battles of Man."

"I know. That's why the wizards are fighting to keep all magical places out of it, little one."

"Yes Master, but they grow inpatient. They trust you, more so than most as you are a Nameless but if you cannot stem this tide, they will see it as their duty to rise up and fight."

Gikk stopped in his labors, seriously considering the words of his messenger. "That cannot happen. It would be foolish to come between two warring nations. Let the Men fight as they always have and tell the forest folk to trust in the wizards, as they always have."

"I will tell them, Nameless Master." The sprite answered dejectedly. He had seen his Master do incredible things in the past but he didn't like the odds if his beloved Master had to stand between the tree spirits and the machines of Man.

Beneath his hands, Gikk had cleared out a space of rough frozen ground about the size of a doorway. With a hurried percussion, he traced his slender fingers over the land, leaving sparks of magic in his wake, magic that was orange, orange as the sunset or his unruly hair - that lovely trail of magical flame licked and sparked, eager to be unleashed in to a doorway for a destination far from here.

The sprite recognized the spell and squeaked with urgency. "Wait! Master wait I have more to tell you!"

"Then travel with me, I must get this to Markl." He gestured vaguely to the tiny pouch that rested on his belt. "I cannot cast the Mist without his help."

"But Master! This is very, very important." The tiny sprite jumped up on his head, bouncing up and down with each word. "The Kodama found something! Last night, in the woods, it fell from the Sky. They thought it was a Star Child – it looks very much like a Star Child, but it feels different. They do not know what to do with it."

Gikk paused, lifting his hand away from his incomplete work. It was his duty, as a sworn wizard to help all magical creatures. Star Children were rare, precious beings that often did not visit the worlds below and if this one had been somehow injured in the fall and Gikk did nothing, or even worse, left the Child in the middle of what could be a battle field of Men…

Having made up his mind, he finished the teleport spell. In the same daft movement, grabbed the sprite and shoved him in the bag that was to be delivered. "Take this to Markl. Don't fail me." With a casual toss, he lobbed the bag, sprite and all in to the waiting vortex. With a 'pop!' and shower of orange that smelled like a Christmas promise, the door was gone.

It wasn't hard to find the Star Child.

Gikk had hardly stepped three feet in to the forest proper before tiny white, ethereal hands took hold of his. All around him the musical 'clicks' of the Kodama filled the air as the children of the forest ran next to him, heads clicking back and forth. Vanishing and reappearing further down the trail, they raced on and on through the silent winter trees.

Up ahead he could see a break in the thick foliage, an unnatural clearing in the center of all the trees. From the distance, he could hear the Kodama clicking urgently, filling the air with a canopy of clacking.

As he moved closer, Gikk's boots began to stick with mud and it took only a glance to see that all the snow in the clearing had been melted in to slush. The trees closest to the center of the landing had been bowed back by the force of impact.

A Star Child couldn't have picked a worse time to come visit the Earth. They were innocent by nature, kind and compassionate and ruled by a pack mentality that made them extremely trusting. That alone wouldn't have been a problem but it was well known that the heart of a Star Child was the secret to unlocking immortality, which made them targets for the shorter lived races like Men and Animal-kin.

He had to get the Child back to the castle quickly and find a way to get them home.

Gikk clambered down towards the crater and the still form lying in its center. The clothing caught his eye right away. Star Children didn't wear… was that _jeans_?

"Miss!" He called, trying to awaken her from her slumber as he laid a careful hand on her back. Her head was turned just so as to have a curtain of the whitest hair covering her features. That astonishing hair color and the way she had fallen from the sky must have been what led the forest folk to think she was a Star Child. But Gikk, with his heightened senses could tell this was not an ordinary fallen star. Hair that color could also be the after effects of very powerful magic. She smelled like the dew at dawn and something so very familiar it made his heart catch. Something very and safe and warm and…

"Miss?" Gikk tried again, with a gentle urgency. He was now convinced this was person had once in fact been human – a victim of very powerful magic and possibly someone he had known before his name had been taken from him. Something about her was so very familiar.

As he pushed her hair away from her face and drew her closer to him, chocolate brown eyes flickered open. They took him in with a look that was just shy of recognition and a light smile tugged at her tired lips.

He knew. He knew the second their eyes met. This was that person, that spectacular person that had come in to his life like a firestorm and left him aching every day since. Somehow, that fantastic woman had battled all the odds and found a way back to him.

A pale hand reached up, pushing up to lock her fingers in to his hair. Shivers shot down his spine as the part of him that had been missing for the last ten years finally clicked in to place.

"You found me." He said softly.

A look of confusion crossed the woman's face, a crease of worry picking up between her eyes. "You found me." She corrected. "In the forest and you seem so very familiar. Do I know you?"

"Oh love." He admonished, dragging her closer and burying his face in that starlit hair. "What have you done?"

To his surprise, the woman wrapped her arms around him, deepening the embrace. She answered gently, "I honestly don't know. I'm not too sure about anything but I do know you feel _right_."

Holding her, Gikk scrambled over his memories through the last few years, remembering every moment he spent with the wonderful woman he now held. Like a bite of foil, it spiked through his mind. How long ago exactly was it when the beautiful face of the person that held his heart stopped having a name attached to it? When was the last time Howl carefully mentioned she was safer now, if not happier? And hadn't Gikk assumed they stopped saying her name because it hurt to hear? Had it really been so long? Surely several years.

"You gave up your name to get back here." He whispered, heart sinking. "And oh, you've been falling for such a very long time." With tender hands, he drew her far enough back look at her face as he drew a few of the silver strands in to his hands. "Long enough that you caught the starlight in your hair and you smell of forever."

The woman smiled. "Does that sound like something I would do? I don't quite remember anymore but when I see you – I feel like you are all I need to know."

And despite the loss Gikk felt knowing she had given her true name for him, he couldn't help but return the smile. "You were always impossible, you know that? My remarkable trouble magnet. This is exactly what you would do if you had your mind set on getting back to me." He paused to consider, "Actually this is a milder route. You could have ripped the two worlds in to nothing or possibly just blown yourself up. Maybe me." He tilted his head, doing a brief span of mental math. "Likely yourself - me in the backlash and finally a moon. Maybe two."

Her laugh was as rich as he remembered, joy made sound tumbling from lips that were fuller and far better than his memory could paint.

"We'll get you a name, a temporary one and I promise Howl and I will get your memories back. I'll never stop until I've found it. Even if I have to do some drastic things of my own."

Smiling, the woman lunged at him, wrapping her arms tightly around him. "Together, right? We'll find it together?"

"Of course! I don't want to blow up. Some people might miss the moon. I'm not letting you out of my sight. I had it all backwards before, but not anymore. I thought by sending you away, I was keeping you safe from trouble. All I was really doing was making you run from it alone."

At those words, Gikk started, pulling up his beloved. "We have to get out of here. I have Mikhal working on a spell to cover this place in Mist but he can't do it alone and any second now, a very aggressive army is going to come tearing through here."

"Run?" She asked, a very familiar smile playing over her face.

"Oh yes." He answered with a return smile, gripping her hand tightly.

~.~

The Wizard's War as it came to be called lasted several human lifetimes, long enough to entangle every race and continent before it had finally ran its course. For wizard's, who measure their lifespan as stars do, it was but a hiccup on the way to a better, more united new world.

In the thick of every battle was the most famous wizard Howl and in every political debate and raging reformation, would stand his beloved wife, Sophie, ever the loudest ambassador for peace, who one day became the most beloved of the four Queens.

From the many battles rose many legends and a great majority of them focused on a Nameless Wizard and his much-loved Star Child.

No one knew their names, or where they had come from but it was assured that they only had to appear at a battle and both sides would quickly surrender.

That probably had a lot to do with his odd, outlandish way of doing battle. The kind of way that made everyone think he had won by accident and everyone involved should be very thankful he hadn't blown up the four realms in the process.

His spells always backfired, spectacularly but with outcomes that labeled him as either the luckiest man who ever lived, or the most brilliant – a point of debate that still rages on. The pair always seemed to be running from _something_ (either from the enemy or his own conjuring) and yet in the end of it all, when things seemed the most dire or impossible, it was assured he and his silver haired lady would be standing at the thickest point, hand in hand, smiling.

~.~

I tried to end this like I thought a Ghilbli film would end – with admittedly more fluff but I felt it was important not to have every bit wrap up as expected. I love the idea of Gikk and his silver lady crossing the stars and worlds forever, seeking but not really caring if they ever found their true names. Just seemed to kind of fit.

So there it is - the story that was originally four pages long and should have only taken me a day to write. Feels good to finish it. Thank you for all the awesome reviews and sticking with me for so long. It's been a real treat.


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